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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 


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BISHOP  JOB  SMITH  MILLS,  A.M.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 


■V 


APk 


Life  of 
Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.D 


Byy/ 
REV.  W.  R.  FUNK,  D.D. 


Introduction  By 
REV.  S.  S.  HOUGH,  D.D. 


THE  OTTERBEIN  PRESS 

DAYTON.  OHIO 

19  13 


United  Brethren  Publishing  House 

W.  R.  FUNK.  Agent 

Dayton,  Ohio 


A  WORD 

►T  has  been  a  pleasure  to  study  the 
hfe  of  that  great  man,  Bishop  Job 
Smith  Mills.  One  can  not  feel  sat- 
isfied with  his  effort  when  he  knows 
there  are  so  many  things  that  might 
be  said  with  profit  to  the  reader. 
The  personal  inspiration  of  his  life  was  so  refresh- 
ing as  he  mingled  among  us  that  it  seems  almost 
a  presumption  to  try  to  write  its  history. 

His  family  and  close  personal  friends  have 
been  so  frank  and  candid  that  I  have  been  helped 
very  much  by  them  in  reaching  conclusions 
both  in  point  of  character  and  dates  of  history. 
I  am  indebted  to  a  large  number  of  Church  men 
and  acquaintances,  who  have  aided  me  in  gather- 
ing facts,  for,  aside  from  his  missionary  journeys, 
Bishop  Mills  kept  no  records  of  events,  no  matter 
how  very  important  they  might  have  been.  His 
family  has  been  insistent  that  only  facts  be  re- 
corded about  which  there  could  be  no  question. 
Mr.  Alfred  Keister  Mills,  the  Bishop's  son,  has  in 
every  way  assisted  me. 

The  Church  is  missing  the  enthusiastic, 
optimistic,  courageous  influence  of  his  energetic 
leadership.  This  effort  to  set  forth  his  life  is  made 
with  the  hope  that  young  men  may  seek  success 
in  the  Master's  service  in  the  face  of  all  difficulty 
as  the  Bishop  did.  I  offer  no  apology,  only  that, 
I  am  sorry  this  good  and  beautiful  life  does  not 
have  a  far  better  setting  than  that  given  it  in  this 
volume. 

W.  R.  FUNK. 

Dayton,  Ohio,  August  1,  191S. 


INTRODUCTION 

JHE  life  of  a  Christian  is  a  revelation 
of  God;  it  is  the  gospel  in  action. 
The  biography  of  a  great  man  is 
both  an  exhibition  of  the  power  of 
the  gospel,  and  a  history  of  the 
times  in  which  the  man  lived.  God 
reveals  himself  through  character.  The  Bible 
itself  is  chiefly  a  book  of  biographies.  God  is  still 
speaking  through  the  lives  of  men.  What  he  de- 
sires to  put  into  the  life  of  any  generation  he  first 
gives  to  the  leaders  of  that  generation. 

Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.  D.,  whose  life's  story  is 
told  in  this  book  had  large  revelations  from  God 
for  the  work  of  His  church.  The  record  of  his 
struggle,  rise,  service,  and  achievements  as  here 
set  forth  is  most  inspiring.  But  few  men  have 
overcome  such  giant  difficulties,  and  risen  to  such 
supreme  heights  in  scholarship  and  service. 

"He  held  no  council  with  unmanly  fears. 
Where  duty  called  he  confidently  steered; 
Faced  a  thousand  dangers  at  her  call, 
And  trusting  in  his  God  surmounted  all." 

Dr.  Funk,  who  had  most  intimate  associa- 
tions with  Bishop  Mills  as  a  co-worker  for  more 
than  sixteen  years  has  interpreted  his  life  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  this  biography  extremely  inter- 
esting and  faith  stimulating. 

This  book  takes  the  reader  into  the  current 
of   a  vigorous   life — a   life  of   intense   study   and 


INTRODUCTION 

research — a  life  of  action.  It  reveals  a  soul  lit  up 
with  the  vision  of  God  and  pouring  itself  out  in 
self-sacrifice  for  the  uplift  of  the  race. 

Bishop  Mills  was  the  only  man  in  our  denomi- 
nation who  served  as  pastor  of  a  circuit,  college 
pastor,  presiding  elder,  college  professor,  college 
president,  and  bishop,  and  who  then  touched  all 
the  conferences  in  the  United  States  and  all  of  our 
five  foreign  fields  with  his  impressive  personality 
and  able  addresses.  His  active  work  while  living, 
brought  forth  a  large  spiritual  harvest.  The 
aftermath  of  his  influence  which  will  come  to  our 
Church  through  the  reading  of  this  book  will  be 
very  great.  It  is  the  privilege  of  all  who  ponder 
this  message  to  seek  to  discover  the  principles 
which  made  possible  such  a  strong  personality, 
and  to  become  a  partner  with  Jesus  Christ  in  carry- 
ing to  completion  the  tasks  for  the  promotion  of 
which  Bishop  Mills  lived  and  died. 

S.  S.  HOUGH 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  I. 
His   Ancestry 9 

Chapter  II. 
Childhood  Life ^S 

Chapter  III. 
His  Pulpit  and  Pastoral  Ministry 39 

Chapter  IV. 
His  Influence  as  a  College  Pastor 51 

Chapter  V. 

Episcopal  Visits  to  the  Mission  Fields  and 

Foreign  Travel 71 

Chapter  VI. 
Student,  Scholar,  and  Educator 109 

Chapter  VII. 

The  Churchman  and  Bishop,  or  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Leader 127 

Chapter  VIII. 
The  Son's  Tribute  to  His  Father 143 

Chapter  IX. 
His  Personal  Traits  and  Character 161 

Chapter  X. 

Estimate  of  His  Life  and  Work  by  his 

Cotemporaries 175 

Chapter  XL 
Sermons  and  Addresses 205 


% 


THE  HOUSE  THE  BISHOP  HELPED  HIS  FATHER  BUILD  JUST  BEFORE 
LEAVING  HOME  TO  BEGIN  HIS  LIFE  WORK 


THE  OLD  MILL  WHERE  THE  FAMILY  FLOUR  WAS  GROUND 


HIS  ANCESTRY 


Chapter  I 

HIS  ANCESTRY 

;VERY  life  has  a  real  value.  The 
measure  of  its  importance  depends 
upon  its  usefulness  in  the  upbuild- 
ing of  personal  character,  the  bet- 
terment of  society,  the  defense  of 
truth  in  national  life,  and  the  serv- 
ice rendered  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  not  an  easy  task  to  place  a  proper  estimate 
upon  a  great  life  spent  in  the  interest  of  humanity. 
In  the  business  world  the  calculation  is  more 
easily  made,  for  it  is  based  upon  the  accumulations 
of  possessions;  in  the  field  of  science,  the  conclu- 
sion is  quickly  reached,  because  a  new  discovery  or 
extraordinary  achievement  attained  by  an  indi- 
vidual at  once  makes  his  reputation  national  or 
international.  In  the  field  of  letters  and  educa- 
tion the  same  rule  obtains — he  who  is  willing  to 
pay  the  price  of  success  wins  a  high  position  in  the 
public  mind.  But,  in  the  field  of  self-sacrifice  for 
the  betterment  of  others,  the  condition  is  changed; 
for,  in  many  cases,  he  who  accomplishes  most  for 
the  individual  and  the  community  is  the  least 
known,  and  the  value  of  his  life  is  much  greater 
than  the  common  estimate  placed  upon  it. 

On  this  account,  to  write  the  life  of  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  purposes 
were  unselfish,  and  whose  services  were  rendered 


12  HIS  ANCESTRY 

entirely  to  others,  and  place  it  in  the  proper  set- 
ting, is  an  impossibility,  for  only  eternity  itself  will 
reveal  the  true  value  of  such  a  life.  In  writing 
the  life  of  Bishop  Job  Smith  Mills,  who  was  born 
February  28,  1848,  and  died  September  16,  1909, 
I  realize  how  limited  words  are  to  present  to  the 
world  the  accomplishments  of  this  noble  man. 

As  one  studies  the  biographies  of  great  men, 
the  mind  makes  serious  inquiry  as  to  the  causes 
leading  to  the  development  of  these  characters  that 
stand  out  so  prominently  in  each  peculiar  field  of 
activity  and  service.  The  accepted  truism  that 
there  is  no  object  of  existence  without  a  cause,  is 
as  true  in  the  mental  and  spiritual,  as  it  is  in  the 
physical  world;  and,  when  a  life  is  peculiarly 
strong  in  the  service  it  has  rendered  to  men,  one 
naturally  asks,  "Why?"  and,  in  answering  this 
question,  is  forced  to  seek  antecedent  conditions. 
These  preconditions  have  much  to  do  with  the 
growth  and  development  of  a  life  that  becomes 
productive.  In  the  life  of  Bishop  Mills,  the  study 
of  his  ancestry  is  most  interesting;  for,  as  we  start 
backward,  we  meet  historic  conditions  that  at 
once  account  for  the  fundamental  elements  of 
character  that  were  so  prominent  in  his  life. 

On  the  paternal  side,  the  parentage  of  Bishop 
Mills  is  easily  traced,  with  unmistakable  exactness, 
to  the  colony  of  William  Penn.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  members  of  the  Mills  family,  the  follow- 
ing historic  setting  of  the  ancestral  life  of  Bishop 
Mills  is  given: 

"The  British  government  became  indebted  to 
William  Penn's  father,  who  was  an  admiral  in  the 
navy;  and,  on  the  death  of  the  father,  the  son  in- 


HIS  ANCESTRY  13 

herited  a  large  sum,  taking  in  settlement  a  vast 
tract  of  land  now  embraced  in  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania.    William   Penn  was   a   minister   in  the 
Friends  or  Quaker  Church,  and,  getting  together 
one  hundred  other  men  and  women  of  like  faith, 
the  little  company  set  sail  for  America,  where  they 
hoped  to  establish  a  settlement  in  which  the  col- 
onists might  worship  God  with  religious  liberty 
and  freedom  of  conscience.     They  had  not  been 
long  on  the  ocean  until  King  Charles  II.,  imitating 
the  act  of  a  king  who  reigned  many  years  previous- 
ly, repented  that  he  had  arranged  with  the  Quakers 
to  settle  in  America.     Accordingly,  the  king  sent 
a  detachment  of  soldiers  to  overtake,  capture,  and 
exchange  Penn  and  his  associates  for  a  cargo  of 
sugar.     Providence,  however,  frowned    upon    the 
dastardly    attempt    of    the    soldiers,    their   vessel 
being    wrecked    and    the    expedition    brought    to 
naught.     The  colonists,  in  due  time,  reached  their 
destination  in  safety  and  made  the  first  permanent 
settlement   in    Pennsylvania,    where    the   city   of 
Philadelphia    now    stands.     This    was    in    1683. 
After  making  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians, 
(which  was  never  dishonored,)   Penn  divided  his 
grant  among   the   colonists,   giving  each   a   very 
liberal  allotment;  one,  Thomas  Wilhams,  receiving 
a  whole  township.     This  man  Williams,  who  lived 
to  be  more  than  one  hundred  years  old,  was  a  min- 
ister, and  belonged  in  the  direct  ancestral  line  of 
the  Mills  family. 

* 'After  the  expiration  of  some  years,  a  num- 
ber of  the  Quakers  left  Philadelphia  and  settled  in 
Georgia  and  North  Carolina.  In  the  latter  State, 
about    the    year    1775,  was    born    Gideon    Mills, 


14  HIS  ANCESTRY 

whose  father's  name  was  Reuben  Mills.  After  a 
sojourn  of  a  few  years  in  their  new  location,  the 
Quakers  felt  they  must  make  a  second  move  in 
the  western  world,  since  slavery  was  quite  in 
opposition  to  their  traditional  ideas  of  freedom, 
and  the  right  of  suffrage  was  restricted  to  owners 
of  slaves ;  they  then  emigrated,  some  to  Tennessee, 
some  to  Ohio. 

"Those  who  came  to  Ohio  settled  near  Barnes- 
ville,  Belmont  County.  Gideon  Mills  was  a 
member  of  the  settlement  thus  formed,  and  here, 
on  July  28,  1814,  Lewis  Mills,  son  of  Gideon  and 
father  of  Bishop  Mills,  was  born.  The  other 
children  born  into  this  home  were  Eli,  older  than 
Lewis,  and,  younger  than  he,  Isaac,  Esther,  Hugh, 
Reuben,  Issachar,  William,  Thomas,  and  Ezra. 
In  1821  Gideon  Mills  removed  from  Belmont 
County  and  settled  in  Morgan  County.  Here 
Lewis  grew  up  and  married  Miss  Sarah  Balderston, 
who  died  a  few  years  later,  and  he  was  subsequently 
married  to  Mrs.  Ann  Hopkins. 

"Lewis  Mills  was  a  man  of  strong,  vigorous 
character,  having  a  well-balanced  mind  with  un- 
usually good  judgment,  was  very  skillful  in  the  use 
of  tools,  a  leader  in  church  and  educational  work, 
and  scrupulously  honest  in  all  his  dealings.  He 
was  for  several  years  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
so  satisfactory  were  his  decisions  that  very  few 
ever  appealed  from  his  judgments,  and  no  superior 
court  ever  reversed  them." 

Bishop  Mills'  father  was  twice  married,  the 
name  of  his  first  wife  being  Sarah  Ann  Balderston. 
To  them  were  born  a  son  and  two  daughters; 
then  death  entered  the  home  and  deprived  the  f am- 


HIS  ANCESTRY  15 

ily  of  the  love  of  wife  and  mother.  Two  years 
after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Lewis  Mills  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Ann  Hopkins.  Here,  again,  I  am 
privileged  to  use  the  family  history  as  given  by 
the  brother  of  Bishop  Mills:  "The  second  wife  of 
Lewis  Mills  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  being  stolen 
from  her  native  State  when  a  girl  of  six  years  and 
brought  to  Morgan  County,  Ohio.  She  was  an  or- 
phan, and  lived  with  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Smith  for  the  first  few  years  of  her  life,  from  which 
it  was  supposed  that  her  name  was  Smith,  but 
later  developments  indicate  that  her  real  name 
was  Jackson,  and  that  she  was  related  to  those  of 
Southern  fame  bearing  that  name.  She  was  a 
woman  of  strong  and  beautiful  character,  a  de- 
voted wife  and   a  most  affectionate  mother. 

"The  family  home  of  Lewis  Mills  and  Ann 
Hopkins  was  established  about  three  miles  north 
of  the  little  town  of  Bartlett,  Washington  County, 
Ohio.  Here  grew  up  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
Emma,  the  youngest  daughter  and  child  being 
called  to  higher  service  when  only  five  years  old. 
The  names  of  the  other  children  in  order  are: 
Thomas  W.,  Job  S.  [Bishop],  George  S.,  John  A., 
William  J.,  Sarah  L.,  and  Rebecca  Z." 

Lewis  Mills  was  brought  up  a  member  of  the 
Friends  Church,  belonging  to  that  substantial 
Quaker  stock  that  produced  such  strong  characters 
in  the  communities  in  which  they  lived.  His 
mother,  Ann  Smith,  was  also  reared  in  the  church 
of  the  Friends,  though  never  uniting  with  the 
church;  but  during  the  life  of  her  first  husband, 
George  W.  Hopkins,  they  were  both  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     It  is  easy  to 


16  HIS  ANCESTRY 

conclude  that  the  ancestry  of  Bishop  Mills  was 
religiously  inclined.  Shortly  after  the  marriage 
of  Lewis  Mills  to  Ann  Smith  Hopkins  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ  began  their  work  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  the  Mills  family  resided;  and, 
when  this  organization  started,  they  cast  their  lot 
with  the  new  church  and  became  members  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ,  remaining  in  that 
communion  until  their  death. 

The  home  of  Bishop  Mills'  childhood  was  one 
of  piety  and  Christian  instruction.  Family  wor- 
ship was  regularly  maintained;  and  this  was  one 
cause  of  his  earnestness  in  behalf  of  the  contin- 
uance of  this  form  of  Christian  service,  saying,  as 
he  often  did,  that  he  was  greatly  strengthened 
by  the  observance  of  this  home  devotion.  His 
parents  did  not  doubt  their  right  to  seek  divine 
guidance  each  morning,  and  every  evening  closed 
the  day  with  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  their 
Heavenly  Father.  This  rule  of  the  household  was 
also  extended  to  include  attendance  at  the  Bible 
school  and  the  regular  church  services,  and  applied 
to  all  members  of  the  family,  old  and  young  alike. 
This  requirement  brought  the  children  into  com- 
plete touch  with  the  church  and  made  lasting 
impressions  in  favor  of  the  truth  of  God  and 
the  advantage  of  a  true  Christian  life. 

Having  recently  visited  the  neighborhood 
in  which  Lewis  and  Ann  Mills  hved,  it  was  not 
difficult  to  learn  the  reason  why  this  family  was 
held  in  high  respect  in  the  community. 

The  father  was  a  strong  man,  whose  integrity 
and  will-power  fitted  him  to  hold  the  highest  office 
in  the  community — justice    of  the  peace.     It  was 


HIS  ANCESTRY  17 

his  delight  to  secure  settlement  of  all  disputes  be- 
tween neighbors  rather  than  go  to  law;  so  his  court 
was,  in  most  cases,  the  court  of  last  resort,  not 
because  an  appeal  could  not  have  been  taken,  but 
because  his  decisions  were  universally  just  and  his 
influence  so  great  that  the  contestants  were  usually 
satisfied  with  the  verdict  rendered.  It  is  recorded 
of  him  officially  that  no  decision  he  ever  rendered 
was  reversed  by  a  higher  court.  This  showed  a 
fairness  and  uprightness  in  judgment  that  marked 
him  as  an  exceptional  officer. 

The  mother  was  a  remarkable  woman.  She 
was  of  medium  size,  with  brown  eyes,  and  rather 
dark  complexion,  possessing  a  very  generous  na- 
ture, and  deeply  sympathetic  in  all  relations  to 
her  home.  It  is  said  of  her  that  her  devotion 
and  care  of  her  son  Job  was  used  of  God  to  extend 
his  life.  She  especially  nestled  him  close  to  her 
bosom  in  the  trying  days  of  his  childhood,  when 
life  was  a  constant  uncertainty  to  him.  It  is  also 
a  matter  of  record  that  Mrs.  Mills  always  encour- 
aged her  son  to  give  himself  to  Christian  service, 
and  never  once  entered  any  protest;  but  rather 
opened  the  way  as  far  as  she  was  able,  for  him. 

The  trustworthiness,  honesty,  and  generosity 
in  the  life  of  the  Bishop  finds  their  antecedents 
in  the  lives  of  both  father  and  mother.  Their 
neighbors,  some  now  living,  bear  unmistakable 
testimony  to  this  fact.  The  lives  of  these  good 
people  fell  as  a  rich  benediction  on  the  life  of  the 
son  who,  in  time,  blessed  the  world  with  a  noble 
and  fruitful  life. 

It  is  interesting  to  study  the  conditions  of  the 
nineteenth    century  and    to    see    the   molding  in- 


18  HIS  ANCESTRY 

fluences  which  preceded  the  beginning  of  the  new 
life  of  humanity  as  it  was  exemphfied  in  the  ca- 
reer of  our  distinguished  brother. 

All  historians  agree  that  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury was  very  widely  removed  from  the  conditions 
obtaining  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  a  greater 
difference  is  noted  as,  in  retrospective  view,  we 
look  back  into  the  preceding  centuries.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  not  an  ocean  steamer,  or 
railroad  car,  or  telegraph  line  was  in  operation 
when  Napoleon  was  defeated  at  the  Battle  of 
Waterloo.  The  one  word  that  analyzes  the  con- 
dition of  nations  as  they  were  related  the  one  to 
the  other  in  their  intercourse,  whether  social  or 
commercial,  is  the  word  "isolation." 

The  rule  of  monarchs,  kings,  and  potentates 
was  almost  absolute  up  until  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Personal  freedom,  moral 
and  intellectual,  as  well  as  social  and  national, 
was  almost  a  thing  unknown  in  any  national  life. 
Civilization  had  been  retarded  by  this  condition. 
Slavery  existed  in  all  of  its  forms,  whether  legal- 
ized in  the  ownership  of  chattels,  or  seen  in  that 
milder  form  of  national  serfdom,  where  tribute 
made  the  subject  a  peasant  in  name  and  a  slave  in 
action;  in  every  one  of  these  cases,  human  liberty 
was  either  ruined  or  crushed.  Sympathy  between 
communities  or  nations  did  not  exist,  and  he  who 
would  study  history  must  study  it  from  this  stand- 
point, and  he  who  would  analyze  a  character  must 
seek  its  elements  in  this  field  of  inquiry. 

The  march  of  civilization  has  been  so  rapid 
during  the  nineteenth  century  that  we  who  live 
in  the  beginnings  of    the    twentieth  century  can 


HIS  ANCESTRY  19 

scarcely  appreciate  what  it  has  meant  to  the  race 
tohave  the  influence  of  the  fraternizing  of  nations 
such  as  we  have  to-day.  To  get  the  settings,  there- 
fore, of  a  hfe  Hke  Bishop  Mills',  where  every  pul- 
sation beats  in  accord  with  the  new  order  of  things, 
we  need  to  analyze  the  national  life  and  to  see  how 
these  things  affected  him  and  impelled  him  with 
a  serious  consciousness,  to  do  the  work  he  ought 
to  do  for  humanity  and  God. 

The  French  Revolution  of  1815  preceded  his 
birth  by  only  thirty-three  years.  This  revolution 
in  France  marked  a  change  in  the  order  of  things 
in  Europe,  for  all  historians  agree  that  never  again 
did  that  continent  return  to,  or  resume  its  ancient 
conception  of  complete  subjection  of  the  individual 
to  national  life. 

Thirty -two  years  before  the  birth  of  our  sub- 
ject the  first  steamer  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
Twenty  years  before  his  birth  came  the  railway, 
which,  in  subsequent  years,  became  the  mighty 
medium  of  commercial  life  and  development. 
Only  three  years  preceding  his  birth  was  the  first 
telegraph  message  sent  from  one  city  to  another, 
and  the  world  began  an  interchange  of  knowledge 
that  has  produced  a  great  effect  upon  human  in- 
telligence, and  brought  to  us  a  new  era  of  life.  It 
was  in  the  period  of  his  birth  that  a  new  relation- 
ship was  established  between  the  Old  World  and 
the  New.  Up  until  this  time  the  thought  of  Europe 
had  controlled  the  colonies;  but  the  effect  of  the 
War  of  1812  and  the  establishment  of  peace,  the 
signing  of  that  remarkable  paper  known  as  "The 
Treaty  of  Ghent,"  and  later  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 


20  HIS  ANCESTRY 

as  worked  out  by  President  Monroe,  was  a  new 
era  of  life  and  thought. 

The  trials  of  the  new  republic  in  the  subse- 
quent years  were  many,  for  the  sword  of  Bonaparte 
manifested  itself  in  connection  with  complications 
arising  between  the  United  States  and  the  little 
kingdom  of  Hayti. 

When  we  remember  that  the  father  of  Job  S. 
Mills  was  born  one  year  previous  to  the  Battle  of 
Waterloo,  and  his  mother  five  years  afterward,  we 
see  the  importance  of  a  study  of  the  history  during 
the  period  of  their  lives.  The  tariff  question, 
which  has  concerned  almost  every  Congress  since 
1828,  was  first  debated  when  Lewis  Mills  was 
fourteen  years  of  age.  It  was  in  this  same  year 
that  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  Whig  Party  was  brought 
into  existence  by  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel  Webster. 
The  father  and  mother  of  Bishop  Mills  lived  during 
the  period  when  Hayne  and  Webster  had  their 
remarkable  debate  on  "Nullification  and  Seces- 
sion," Hayne  supporting  the  doctrine  of  State 
rights  and  Webster  defending  constitutional  su- 
premacy. 

From  1814,  the  time  of  the  birth  of  his  father, 
to  his  own  birth  in  1848,  there  were  periods  of 
unrest  and  wars,  following  each  other  in  close  suc- 
cession. It  was  during  this  time  that  his  parents 
formed  their  opinions  and  fashioned  their  lives, 
which,  in  turn,  influenced  that  of  their  son.  Being 
quiet,  rural  people,  they  heard  with  alarm  the 
meager  reports  that  came  of  the  Indian  Wars. 
The  passing  of  the  Revolutionary  heroes,  such  as 
Adams  and  Jefferson,  had  great  effect  upon  them. 


HIS  ANCESTRY  21 

Monroe  died  in  1831  and  Charles  Carroll,  the  last 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in 
1832.  Thus  passed  those  who  were  especially 
instrumental  in  the  forming  of  the  new  republic. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  died  in  1835  and  President 
Madison  in  1836.  The  marking  of  this  period  of 
transition  is  important  in  the  lives  of  the  parentage 
of  Bishop  Mills.  The  coming  in  of  Jackson,  Clay, 
Webster,  Calhoun,  Harrison,  Van  Buren,  Scott, 
Tyler  and  Zachary  Taylor  also  has  a  bearing  upon 
the  life  that  we  are  to  study  in  this  connection. 

In  1840,  just  eight  years  before  the  birth  of 
Bishop  Mills,  the  population  of  the  United  States 
was  only  seventeen  millions.  This  in  itself  is 
cause  for  careful  study  of  his  life,  with  its  bearing 
upon  conditions  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The 
Mormon  question  was  raised  just  a  few  years 
previous  to  his  birth.  The  great  riot  of  Car- 
thage, Missouri,  over  the  Mormon  agitation  was 
in  1844.  James  K.  Polk  was  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent May  29,  1844,  and  the  news  of  his  nomination 
was  sent  by  telegraph  from  Baltimore  to  Wash- 
ington— the  first  electric  message  ever  sent. 
This  alone  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
civihzation.  Professor  F.  P.  Morris,  of  Mass- 
achusetts, began  his  experiments  in  this  field  of 
activity  in  1832  and  twelve  years  afterward  sent 
this  message  announcing  the  nomination  of  Presi- 
dent Polk.  The  Mexican  War  was  begun  in  1846, 
and  Zachary  Taylor  won  his  distinction  as  a 
commanding  general.  He  was  by  many  consid- 
ered to  be  superior  to  General  Scott,  who  was 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  Republic. 
At  this  same  time  we  hear  the  first  of  General  John 


22  HIS  ANCESTRY 

C.  Fremont,  who  was  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
seeking  to  control  the  invasions  of  the  Mexicans 
in  southern  CaHfornia.  In  1846  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain,  affecting  the  northwestern  bound- 
aries of  our  country,  was  consummated,  in  which 
Great  Britain  won  every  point  of  advantage. 
The  treaty  with  Mexico,  closing  the  Mexican  War, 
occurred  in  the  winter  of  1847-48,  and  the  proc- 
lamation of  peace  was  made  by  President  Polk 
July  4,  1848. 

As  Bishop  Mills  was  born  February,  1848,  he 
came  into  the  world  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  with 
Mexico,  and  was  but  a  few  months  old  when  the 
proclamation  of  peace  with  that  country  was 
written.  It  was  in  the  year  of  his  birth,  near  Sac- 
ramento, California,  that  Captain  Sutter  employed 
a  number  of  laborers  to  dig  a  ditch  for  a  mill-race, 
to  conduct  water  for  power,  and  his  workmen  dis- 
covered gold,  which  resulted  in  the  gold  excite- 
ment known  in  history  as  the  "Gold  Fever." 
Bishop  Mills  was  a  baby  when  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  was  but  a  Spanish  hut  village.  Henry 
Clay  and  Daniel  Webster  were  in  the  prime  of  their 
influence  at  the  time  of  his  birth.  Thus  we  can 
see  why  there  should  come  to  him  such  influences 
as  would  make  for  a  strong  and  positive  nature; 
an  energy  in  thinking  that  would  result  in  a  wide 
vision  and  a  broad  comprehension  of  local,  na- 
tional, and  international  affairs,  for  Bishop  Mills 
as  a  thinker  reached  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
earth  and  encompassed  the  globe. 


MILL  DAM  \VHP:RE  HE   WENT  SWIMMING 


THE  HOME  CHURCH.   WHERE    BISHOP  MILLS  WAS  CON\'ERTED 
AND  JOINED  CHURCH 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE 


Chapter  II 

CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

tHE  birthplace  and  residence  during 
the  period  of  childhood  and  youth 
have  much  to  do  with  the  forma- 
tion of  character  in  the  individual. 
No  more  striking  example  of  this 
truth  can  be  obtained  than  that 
found  in  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was 
born  in  the  obscure  and  almost  barren  moun- 
tains of  Kentucky.  No  one  can  visit  the  old 
Lincoln  farm  without  the  question  arising,  "Can 
any  good  thing  come  out  of  this  community.'^" 
The  same  question  was  asked  in  reference  to  the 
home  city  of  our  Lord  and  Master;  and,  without 
reflecting  upon  the  community  in  which  Bishop 
Mills  was  born,  it  might,  with  propriety,  be  asked 
of  that  rugged,  isolated  locality  in  Washington 
County,  Ohio,  where  he  first  saw  the  light.  Abrupt 
hills,  approaching  the  magnitude  of  mountains, 
deep  forests  and  rushing,  bubbling  streams  mark 
the  place  where  he  spent  his  childhood. 

He  was  born  near  the  little  village  of  Bartlett, 
in  a  small  log  house,  one  of  the  first  built  in  that 
community.  At  that  time  very  little  of  the  land 
was  cleared.  Even  now  it  is  not  considered  very 
productive,  for  it  is  difficult  to  maintain  the  soil  in 
a  high  state  of  cultivation  on  account  of  the  un- 
evenness  of  the  ground  and  the  steepness  of  the 
hills.     But  there  is  a  law  of  compensation  entering 


26  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

into  everything  that  God  has  arranged;  and,  while 
the  earth  has  not  been  so  fruitful  in  the  production 
of  crops,  it  has  been  very  productive  of  minerals 
and  oil,  so  that,  from  a  financial  standpoint,  many 
of  the  people  of  Washington  and  Morgan  counties 
have  been  reaping  harvests  of  wealth  from  the 
internal  values  of  those  great  hills.  This,  however, 
was  not  in  the  immediate  locality  where  Bishop 
Mills  was  born,  and  where  his  brother  and  family 
still  reside. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  study  the  effect  of 
these  conditions,  influenced  as  he  must  have  been 
by  the  simple  surroundings  of  his  childhood.  His 
great  love  of  nature  found  its  beginnings  in  the 
experiences  of  these  early  days.  No  one  loved 
nature  better  than  he.  He  lived  in  it;  he  breathed 
its  spirit.  He  was  a  student  of  nature  all  his  life, 
and  many  of  his  most  telling  illustrations  in  his 
deepest  discourses  were  drawn  from  this  field  of 
inquiry. 

The  house  in  which  he  was  born  was,  in  itself, 
an  object  of  interest.  As  described  by  those  who 
saw  it,  it  was  the  humblest  of  the  humble.  Its 
appearance  and  arrangement  were  such  as  to  give 
conclusive  evidence  that  the  parents  of  Bishop 
Mills  did  not  make  the  physical  home,  with  its 
appointments  and  comforts,  paramount;  but, 
rather,  the  people  living  their  lives  there  were  the 
greatest  element  in  the  character  of  the  home. 
This  is  in  bold  contrast  to  the  conditions  as  they 
are  to-day,  when  the  character  and  quality  of  the 
home  is  estimated  by  the  exterior  architectural 
appearance  and  the  internal  furnishings.  In  many 
instances  the  development  of  character  is  secondary 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  27 

to  the  physical  or  material  condition.  The  first 
vision  of  this  child  revealed  a  substantial,  unvar- 
nished home,  where  love,  not  tapestry  or  glitter, 
was  the  inspiration. 

In  a  deep  ravine,  with  hills  surrounding  on 
three  sides,  and  a  small  receding  valley  on  the 
other,  was  located  the  birthplace  of  Bishop  Mills, 
sheltered  in  every  particular  from  the  fierce  north 
and  the  blighting  east  winds.  It  would  seem  al- 
most providential  that  he  should  have  been  thus 
protected,  for  his  childhood  days  were  days  of 
physical  weakness  and  struggle  for  continuing  life. 
The  house  in  which  he  was  born  has  passed  out 
of  existence;  not  even  a  picture  of  it  being  pre- 
served; but  the  house  of  his  grandfather,  located 
on  an  adjoining  farm,  is  given  in  illustration  in 
this  book,  and  is  said  to  be  superior  in  every  way 
to  the  home  in  which  Job  S.  Mills  was  born. 

About  a  mile  from  his  residence  is  the  old 
mill,  a  center  of  attraction,  to  which  he  went  very 
frequently  when  he  was  a  boy.  On  a  trip  of  in- 
vestigation made  by  the  writer  and  his  son  to  this 
community,  the  picture  of  this  ancient  mill  was 
taken  especially  for  this  volume.  In  a  careful 
study  of  the  old  mill  and  its  surroundings,  is  re- 
vealed the  simple  life  of  the  communitj^  A  pa- 
tron had  come  to  the  mill  just  a  short  time  before 
we  arrived,  and,  finding  the  miller  away  from 
home,  without  suspicion  and  with  a  trustful  heart 
placed  his  grain  on  the  platform  at  the  front  door 
of  the  mill  and  went  home,  knowing  full  well  that 
the  honest  miller  would  care  for  his  grist,  and  that 
no  intruding  person  would  venture  to  molest  it — 
a  simplicity  of  life  that  is  delightful  to  contem- 


28  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

plate  in  the  presence  of  our  locked  and  barred 
doors,  and  ou^  stalwart  policemen  walking  our 
streets  to  protect  our  lives  and  property  while  we 
sleep. 

The  mill  dam,  at  the  rear  of  the  mill,  presents  a 
scene  of  rare  beauty.  I  was  told  that  one  of  the  fa- 
vorite sports  of  the  Bishop,  when  he  was  a  lad,  was 
to  go  to  the  mill  dam  for  a  swim.  The  view  at  this 
point  is  one  of  exquisite  beauty  and  must  have 
had  a  telling  eff-^ct  upon  the  life  of  the  boy,  for  in 
that  day  it  was  even  more  charming  than  now,  with 
the  woodland  back  of  it  covering  the  entire  hill. 
The  scene  beyond  this  mill  dam  is  just  in  front  of 
his  birthplace,  and  right  over  the  hill  in  the  valley 
beyond  was  his  home.  A  home  it  was,  for  brothers 
and  sisters,  father  and  mother  lived  a  beautiful 
and  simple  hfe  that  made  their  fellowship  complete. 
This  sparkling  stream  of  water,  as  it  took  its  way 
on  down  through  the  valley,  must  have  been  an 
inspiration. 

Reference  was  made  before  to  the  home  of 
Bishop  Mills'  grandfather,  located  on  the  adjoining 
farm.  It  was  my  privilege,  on  the  trip  previously 
mentioned,  to  take  a  picture  of  this  home,  now 
occupied  by  an  old  lady,  considerably  over  eighty 
years  of  age.  The  house  is  of  logs,  weather- 
boarded,  and  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  oldest, 
if  not  the  oldest  house  in  this  community.  The 
shades  of  the  evening  were  falling  when  the 
picture  was  taken. 

The  schoolhouse,  where  Bishop  Mills  attended 
school  has  been  rebuilt.  It  was  located  on  the  site 
where  the  present  schoolhouse  stands,  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  his  home.     It  has  been  re- 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  29 

paired  several  times  since  it  was  rebuilt.  The 
foundation,  however,  is  the  original  one.  It  is  said 
that  his  ill  health  in  the  early  days  of  his  life 
prevented  his  regular  attendance  at  the  public 
school. 

The  church  of  his  childhood  is  seen  in  the 
accompanying  illustration.  On  a  high  elevation, 
in  a  beautiful  woodland  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  from  his  home,  we  found  this  building,  nest- 
ling among  the  trees — perfect  in  location.  It  is  an 
old  structure,  built  on  the  old  plan  of  country 
churches,  with  a  door  in  front  and  a  door  at  the 
side.  It  is  not  now  occupied  as  a  preaching-place, 
and  is  rapidly  falling  into  decay.  It  is  almost  pa- 
thetic that  conditions  have  so  changed  in  the  com- 
munity as  to  make  this  church  unnecessary.  It 
was  in  this  church,  when  but  a  lad  of  seventeen 
years,  that  Bishop  Mills  gave  his  heart  to  God, 
and  sought  forgiveness  of  sins  through  Jesus 
Christ,  his  personal  Savior. 

The  house  that  Bishop  Mills  helped  his  father 
build,  when  he  was  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of 
age,  is  presented  in  the  illustration.  It  was  built 
only  a  few  years  before  he  left  his  home  for  his 
life  work.  The  original  home  of  the  Mills  family 
was  just  across  the  driveway.  The  house  is 
now  occupied  by  his  brother  John.  It  was  one  of 
the  best  in  the  community  when  it  was  built,  and 
the  family  lived  comfortably  in  it  during  the 
remaining  years  of  the  life  of  the  father  and 
mother,  the  father  dving  in  1880,  and  the  mother 
in  1889. 

With  this  description,  one  gets  visions  of 
landscapes,    rugged    hills,    valleys    with    rippling 


30  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

streams,  with  trees  and  tiny  shrubs,  and  lofty  oak, 
and  pine,  and  deep,  dark  stretches  of  woodland, 
which  form  the  setting  of  the  early  boyhood  days 
of  the  one  who  truly  loved  nature  and  studied  her 
laws  and  loved  her  God. 

The  log  cabin  in  which  he  was  born  was  more 
than  a  half  mile  from  the  public  highway,  and  this 
seclusion  gave  time  and  opportunity  for  thoughtful 
meditation  on  the  things   immediately  about  him. 

As  has  been  intimated.  Bishop  Mills  spent  his 
first  fifteen  years  of  existence  in  a  struggle  for  life; 
delicate  physically,  he  was  subjected  to  nearly 
every  physical  ailment  incident  to  childhood,  and 
in  each  recurring  case  his  strength  was  almost 
unequal  to  the  shock  and  at  times  his  very  life 
was  threatened.  But  God  had  a  work  for  him  to 
do,  and,  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  commenced  to 
gain  physical  strength. 

Dr.  H.  A.  Thompson,  in  writing  the  sketch  of 
Bishop  Mills,  says: 

"Job  S.  was  the  sixth  of  this  large  family.  He 
was  born  with  small  vitality,  and  his  tread  of  life 
for  many  years  was  the  feeblest  possible.  During 
his  first  year  his  mother  prepared  his  burial  clothes 
three  times,  not  thinking  it  possible  for  him  to  live. 
His  pale  face  and  delicate  form  were  matters  of 
continual  remark  all  through  youth  and  until  he 
was  thirty-six  years  of  age.  Neither  parents  nor 
neighbors  would  have  been  surprised  to  have  heard 
of  his  death  at  any  time. 

"The  lack  of  vitahty  determined  the  method 
of  his  education.  He  did  not  learn  to  read  until  he 
was  eleven  years  old;  but  at  fourteen  a  mental 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  31 

genesis  came  to  him,  and  an  insatiable  appetite 
for  knowledge  which  has  never  been  satisfied." 

From  this  period  he  grew  stronger  with  each 
year  mi  til,  in  his  mature  manhood,  he  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  physical 
figure  and  strength  that  could  be  found.  His  in- 
domitable will  overcame  the  symptoms  of  con- 
sumption that  threatened  his  life  from  the  years 
twelve  to  fifteen. 

It  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  parents 
of  Job  Mills  were  farmers  and,  on  this  account, 
his  school  privileges  were  not  the  best.  The  com- 
mon schools  of  his  neighborhood  were  kept  open 
only  three  and  four  months  in  the  year,  part  of 
which  time  was  during  the  winter  season,  and, 
being  a  delicate  boy,  he  could  not  attend  regularly. 
This  handicapped  him  in  his  school  work.  It  is 
said  of  him  that  his  desire  for  knowledge  was  so 
great  that  he  would  carry  a  book  with  him  to 
the  field  where  he  was  working,  and,  while  the 
horses  rested,  he  worked  with  unabated  energy  on 
his  lessons.  This  alone  reveals  a  determination  of 
spirit  that  later  worked  wonders  in  his  life. 

Among  the  ministers  who  visited  his  early 
home  were  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Miller,  Rev.  J.  W.  Sleeper, 
and  a  local  minister.  Rev.  Abraham  Zumbro,  an 
uncle  of  the  writer.  It  is  said  that  these  three  men 
had  great  influence  over  the  life  of  this  boy  as  he 
grew  up  in  his  father's  home.  It  was  during  a 
revival  held  at  the  Otterbein  Church  on  Plymouth 
Circuit,  by  these  three  ministers,  that  he  made  his 
profession  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  ministry  of  the 
word  as  given  in  that  day  was  direct  and  pungent, 
and  Bishop  Mills  came  under  the  influence  of  the 


32  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  as  it  affected  the  hfe  of  the 
individual  and  changed  it  from  a  wrong  to  a  good 
course.  His  conversion  was  very  pronounced,  and 
his  determination  to  enter  the  ministry  of  Jesus 
Christ  followed  very  quickly.  The  state  of  edu- 
cation and  learning  at  this  time  was  at  a  low  ebb. 
Emphasis  was  not  put  upon  qualifications  for  the 
ministry  in  the  Church  then  as  now,  although  Job 
S.  Mills  at  once  completed  the  work  of  the  common 
schools,  and  in  two  more  years  finished  the  course 
as  given  in  Bartlett  Academy,  then  located  near 
the  town  of  Plymouth. 

From  the  time  he  entered  the  Christian 
ministry  until  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  recog- 
nized as  a  profound  student.  His  call  to  the 
Christian  ministry,  which  occurred  in  the  year 
following  his  conversion,  is  very  interesting  as  re- 
lated by  his  personal  friend.  Dr.  H.  A.  Thompson: 

"He  had  carried  to  the  field  of  toil,  one  morn- 
ing, a  part  of  the  New  Testament  to  read  while 
resting.  While  alone,  sitting  in  the  shade  of  a 
forest  tree,  he  read  the  last  chapter  of  Mark's 
Gospel,  with  its,  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.'  It  came  to 
him  with  all  the  force  of  a  personal  message  from 
God;  it  overwhelmed  him;  and  in  tears  he  said, 
'Open  the  way  and  I  will  go.'  He  was  soon 
given  license  to  exhort  (1867)." 

Almost  immediately  following  his  receiving 
his  license  to  exhort,  a  desire  developed  in  his 
soul,  which  finally  became  a  real  purpose,  to  go  as 
a  missionary,  under  the  appointment  of  the  Home, 
Frontier  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  t  >  Africa, 


WHERE  BISHOP  MILLS  ATTEXDED  Pl'BLIC  SCHOOL 


THE   HOME  OF  BISHOP  MILLS'   GRANDFATHER 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  33 

his  chosen  field.  Here  came  one  of  the  greatest 
trials  of  his  life,  when,  after  negotiating  earnestly 
with  Rev.  D.  K.  Flickinger,  missionary  secretary, 
he  was  finally  rejected  because  of  his  poor  physi- 
cal health. 

He  went  to  Westerville,  Ohio,  in  1868  and 
met  the  executive  committee  of  the  board  of  mis- 
sions, with  a  view  to  going  to  Africa.  "Edwards, 
Flickinger,  Hanby,  Spangler  and  Billheimer  were 
present.  After  they  had  met  and  talked  with  the 
pale,  feeble-looking  lad,  they  decided  he  could  not 
live  through  the  year,  and  therefore  it  would  be 
unwise  to  send  him  to  Africa.  They  advised  him 
to  go  as  an  assistant  pastor  on  a  field  of  work  and 
wait.  Twice  after  this  he  earnestly  sought  to  go 
as  a  missionary  to  the  frontier,  once  to  California, 
and  again  to  Washington,  but  each  time  was  dis- 
appointed on  account  of  feeble  health." 

It  was  at  this  period,  1868,  that  he  entered 
the  Christian  ministry  and  was  received  into 
Scioto  Conference.  After  his  rejection  as  a  mis- 
sionary, he  was  appointed  to  the  Palestine  Circuit 
with  Rev.  Joshua  Montgomery,  senior  pastor. 
His  physical  weakness  gradually  left  him  and  he 
grew  stronger  with  each  year,  and  now  stood  ready 
for  the  conquest  of  life,  which,  in  its  sequel,  marked 
him  as  an  able  defender  of  the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  period  of  his  life  from  the  time  of  his  birth 
in  1848  to  his  entrance  into  the  Christian  ministry 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  in  1868  comprised  memor- 
able days  in  the  history  of  the  nation.  Coming 
from  the  stock  of  Andrew  Jackson,  he  inherited 
somewhat  the  disposition  of  his  ancestors.  He  was 
ready  for  the  contest,  else  he  would  have  yielded  in 


34  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

his  childhood  to  disease,  and  his  hfe  would  have 
been  one  of  great  disappointment.  The  nation 
was  undergoing  a  great  change  on  very  important 
questions.  The  cause  of  slavery,  which  forced  the 
ancestry  of  the  Mills  family  to  leave  slave  territory, 
was  fast  becoming  a  vital  question  that  would  test 
the  very  existence  of  the  republic.  In  1846,  two 
years  before  the  birth  of  Bishop  Mills,  Wilmot  of 
Pennsylvania  introduced  in  Congress  a  bill  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  territory  which  might  be 
acquired  by  the  treaty  with  Mexico.  In  1849, 
one  year  after  his  birth,  the  admission  of  California 
as  a  State  came  up  by  resolution  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  California  had  previously 
adopted  a  constitution  in  which  slavery  was  pro- 
hibited. The  resolution  to  admit  California  raised 
a  storm  of  debate  in  Congress,  lasting  through 
the  winter  and  summer.  Henry  Clay,  then  in  the 
height  of  his  power  as  a  national  character,  intro- 
duced what  was  known  as  "Clay's  Omnibus  Bill." 
Among  other  things  found  in  that  bill  was  the 
admission  of  California  as  a  free  State  under  the 
constitution  already  adopted;  the  organization  of 
territorial  governments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah 
without  conditions  on  the  slavery  question;  that 
the  territory  of  Texas  might  be  divided  into  four 
States  to  permit  of  the  excluding  of  slavery  as  the 
people  thereof  should  determine;  the  enactment  of 
a  more  rigorous  law  for  the  recovery  of  fugitive 
slaves;  and  last  in  that  bill  was  the  provision  for 
the  abolishment  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

In  the   autumn  following    the  beginning  of 
this  session,  on  the  eighteenth  of  September,  1850, 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  35 

Clay,  by  his  eloquence,  won  the  victory  and  every 
clause  of  the  Omnibus  Bill  was  adopted.  President 
Fillmore  signed  the  bill,  thus  giving  it  his  sanction. 
This  likely  was  the  most  important  national 
transaction  affecting  the  life  of  the  boy  who  was 
born  when  the  nation  was  in  its  struggle  for 
existence. 

In  this  atmosphere  he  started  his  life  of  earnest 
thinking.  With  the  campaigns  of  strenuous  debate 
preceding  the  change  that  came  with  the  election 
of  Lincoln,  young  Mills  received  his  first  impres- 
sions of  national  and  social  life,  and  this  will 
appear  again  and  again  as  we  study  his  career. 
It  was  in  this  epoch  of  history  that  the  great 
Hungarian  patriot,  Louis  Kossuth,  came  to  Ameri- 
ca and  pled  the  cause  of  Hungarian  liberty  against 
the  oppression  of  Austria  and  Russia.  The  first 
effort  toward  the  investigation  and  exploration 
of  the  arctic  regions  was  begun  under  Dr.  Kane 
in  1853. 

These  items  of  history  are  noted  here  because 
in  the  subsequent  life  of  Mr.  Mills  they  had  great 
influence.  It  is  said  that  he  spent  much  time 
pondering  over  the  history  of  our  nation,  its  strug- 
gles in  the  periods  just  preceding  the  time  of  his 
birth  and  during  the  formative  years  of  his  child- 
hood life.  He  frequently  referred  to  the  fact  that 
when  he  was  five  years  of  age  Commodore  Perry 
entered  the  Bay  of  Yeddo,  and  for  the  first  time 
entered  a  Japanese  port  which,  up  until  this  date, 
had  been  closed  against  the  vessels  of  Christian  na- 
tions. It  is  supposed  that  this  fact  had  much  to 
do  with  the  decision  of  the  young  man  to  be  a  for- 
eign missionary.     Having  caught  the  inspiration  of 


36  CHILDHOOD  LIFE 

such  a  great  deed  as  that  performed  by  Commodore 
Perry,  he  studied  with  a  view  to  himself  entering  a 
new  field  and  thus  impressing  his  life  upon  it. 
Often  during  this  period  of  twenty  years  the 
question  of  slavery  arose.  In  1854  the  United 
States  Senate  took  up  the  proposition  of  organizing 
the  territory  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and,  in 
accordance  with  the  bill,  these  two  territories,  in 
forming  their  constitutions,  should  decide  for 
themselves  whether  they,  as  new  States,  should  be 
free  or  slave  holding.  This  was  considered  at  vari- 
ance with  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Nobody  knew 
the  exact  object  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  this 
effort  to  change  conditions  in  reference  to  this 
vast  territory,  extending  over  the  States  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska.  Bishop  Mills  in  after  life  studied 
very  carefully  this  history  as  he  presided  over  the 
conferences  of  this  territory  where  these  great 
problems  were  practically  worked  out.  The  bat- 
tle that  followed  the  passage  of  this  enactment 
brought  confusion  and  danger  to  the  citizens  of 
that  territory. 

In  1855  General  John  C.  Fremont,  of  Califor- 
nia, was  nominated  by  the  free-soil  people  or  Re- 
publican party  for  President.  James  Buchanan,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  nominated  by  the 
Democracy  and  was  elected.  I  have  heard  Bishop 
Mills  refer  very  frequently  to  this  interesting  cam- 
paign, in  which  the  new  doctrines  of  the  Republi- 
can party  as  such  were  outlined  by  the  speakers 
who  defended  the  platform  of  that  party  in  that 
campaign. 

It  was  in  1857  that  Chief  Justice  Roger  B. 
Taney,  speaking  for  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


CHILDHOOD  LIFE  37 

United  States,  decided  that  negroes,  whether  free 
or  slave,  were  not  citizens  of  the  United  States; 
that  they  could  not  become  such  by  any  process 
known  to  the  Constitution;  that,  under  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  a  negro  could  neither  sue  nor 
be  sued,  and,  therefore,  the  court  had  no  juris- 
diction in  the  Dred  Scott  case;  that  the  slave  was 
to  be  regarded  simply  in  the  light  of  a  personal 
chattel,  and  that  he  might  be  removed  from  place 
to  place  by  his  owner  as  any  other  piece  of  property; 
that  the  Constitution  gives  to  the  slave-holder  the 
right  of  removing  to,  or  through  any  State  or  terri- 
tory, with  his  slaves,  and  of  returning  at  his  will 
with  them  to  a  State  where  slavery  was  recognized 
by  law;  and  that,  therefore,  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise of  1820  as  well  as  the  compromise  measures 
of  1850  were  unconstitutional  and  void.  In  these 
opinions  six  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Bench — Wayne,  Nelson,  Grier,  Daniel,  Campbell, 
and  Catron — concurred,  while  two  Associate  Jus- 
tices— McLean  and  Curtiss — dissented. 

All  these  questions  then  debated  had  untold 
influence  on  the  mind  of  young  Mills  as  he  studied 
the  sociological  problems  of  human  hfe;  for  no 
one  stood  more  earnestly  for  the  broad  princi- 
ples of  American  liberty  than  he,  whether  in  the 
state,  society,  or  Church. 


HIS  PULPIT  AND  PASTORAL  MINISTRY 


Chapter  III 

HIS  PULPIT  AND  PASTORAL  MINISTRY 

;HE  ministry  of  Job  S.  Mills  was  one 
of  almost  unbroken  service  from  the 
time  he  received  his  exhorter's 
license,  May  18,  1867,  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  The  historic 
setting  of  his  entrance  into  this  field 
of  activity,  in  which  he  became  renowned  as  a 
worker,  is  seen  in  the  exhorter's  license  which  he 
received  at  the  date  above  mentioned.  This  li- 
cense is  as  follows: 

"To  Whom  it  May  Concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  Job  S.  Mills  is  authorized  to  ex- 
hort among  us  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ  so  long 
as  his  life  and  doctrine  is  in  accordance  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Bible. 

Given  at  a  Quarterly  Conference  Convened  May  the 
18th,  1867,  on  Plymouth  Cr.  Scioto  A.  C. 

Jas.  H.  Dickson,  p.  e.,  Protem." 

Under  the  authority  thus  given  him,  he  exer- 
cised the  privilege  of  exhorting  the  people  to  live 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Word  of 
God,  and  at  once  showed  ability  to  persuade  men 
to  leave  their  sins  and  to  accept  the  ways  of 
righteousness. 

On  August  15,  1868,  he  received  his  quarterly 
conference  license  on  Plymouth  Circuit,  Scioto 
Conference.  This  license  was  signed  b  J.  W. 
Sleeper,  presiding  elder,  one  of   the  men  who  was 


42  HIS   MINISTRY 

instrumental  in  influencing  young  Mills  to  enter 
the  Christian  life,  and  to  decide  in  favor  of  the 
Christian  mi  istry  as  his  life  work.  This  hcense 
is  given  in  the  exact  form  in  which  it  was  issued: 

"This  is  to  certify  bro  J.  S.  Mills  is  authorized 
to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  done  by  order  of  the 
4  Quartly  conference  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ  Plymouth  circuit  Scioto  conference  Ohio  Au- 
gust 15th,  1868. 

"J.  W.  Sleeper,  p.  e. 

Having  pursued  his  courses  of  study  as  re- 
quired by  the  Church  in  his  relation  as  quarterly 
conference  preacher,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
September,  1870,  he  was  received  into  the  Scioto 
Conference  and  granted  a  license  by  that  con- 
ference, signed  by  Bishop  J.  J.  Glossbrenner,  as 
follows : 

To  Whom  It  may  Concern: 

"This  is  to  Certify,  That  Job.  S.  Mills  is  an 
approved  Preacher  of  the  Gospel  in  the  Church  of 
the  United  Brethren  In  Christ,  so  long  as  his 
conduct  and  doctrine  are  comformable  with  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ. 

Given  at  an  Annual  Conference  held  in 
Hocking  County  Ohio 
this  15th  day  of  September  in   the  year  of  our  Lord, 
1870 
Signed  and  Sealed  in  behalf  of  said  Conference. 

"J.J.  Glossbrenner, Bishop." 

This  license  put  him  in  the  rank  of  the  active 
workers  of  his  conference,  in  which  he  soon  be- 
came one  of  the  leaders.  Soon  after  he  received 
his  exhorter's  license  he  made  application  to 
the    missionary     society    of    our    Church    to    be 


HIS   MINISTRY  43 

appointed  as  a  missionary  to  Africa.  This  strong 
desire  to  thus  serve  God  in  the  opening  up  of  a  new 
continent,  which  at  that  time  was  almost  closed 
to  every  ray  of  spiritual  life,  gives  emphasis  to 
the  depth  of  thought  and  the  world  vision  that 
this  young  man  had  at  these  beginning  years  of 
his  eventful  life,  and  accounts  for  the  great  ac- 
tivity which  he  manifested  during  all  of  his  pastoral 
and  ministerial  life  in  favor  of  missions.  It  is  not 
so  hard  to  reach  a  conclusion  to  be  a  missionary 
at  this  period  of  the  world's  development,  as  it 
was  when  Job  Mills  made  application  to  the  mis- 
sion board. 

As  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  he  was  in- 
fluenced by  the  ever  changing  current  of  national 
and  international  affairs.  If  he  had  not  been  in 
touch  with  these  movements,  there  would  have 
been  no  inspiration  in  his  mind  and  heart  to  thus 
consecrate  himself  to  a  task  in  which,  at  that  time, 
only  a  few  had  faith.  It  is  pathetic  that  one  so 
earnest,  so  broad-minded,  so  spiritually  consecra- 
ted, should  have  been  rejected  as  he  stood  before 
the  door  of  open  possibilities,  seeking  entrance  into 
the  dark  continent  of  Africa.  But  the  commit- 
tee of  the  mission  board  could  not  be  blamed  for 
their  action  in  rejecting  young  Mills,  as  he  came 
before  them  with  his  frail,  delicate  body;  for 
they  realized  that  to  send  him  to  the  "white 
man's  grave,"  as  Sierra  Leone,  West  Africa,  has 
always  been  called,  would  be  disastrous  and  result 
in  the  unnecessary  sacrifice  of  life.  That  they 
were  divinely  led  to  reject  his  application  is  fully 
established  by  the  wealth  of  service  that  Bishop 
Mills  has  rendered,  during  the  subsequent  years, 


44  HIS   MINISTRY 

to  the  home  church  and  to  the  foreign  field  through 
the  board  of  missions. 

Beginning  his  ministry  soon  after  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War,  in  the  period  of  reconstruction, 
when  the  enmity  of  sections  was  still  fired  by  the 
shedding  of  blood,  and  when  the  ambitions  of  men 
were  leading  them  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  nobler 
principles  by  placing  undue  burdens  upon  the  fallen 
foe,  this  young  preacher  was  made  to  feel,  by 
these  events  and  conditions,  the  need  of  a  con- 
structive life,  and  at  once  began  his  life  work 
with  the  high  ideal  of  helping  to  hft  the  world, 
rather  than  to  destroy  it. 

It  was  during  the  period  of  his  life  from  the 
age  of  thirteen,  when  the  war  began,  and  his 
entrance  into  the  ministry  two  years  after  it  closed, 
that  he  formed  his  permanent  opinions  of  right 
and  wrong  as  relating  to  the  sociological  problems 
that  were  paramount  in  his  work  as  a  minister, 
teacher,  and  Christian. 

It  was  during  one  of  the  raids  made  by  that 
daring  and  dangerous  warrior,  Morgan,  that  Mills 
was  taken  a  captive,  and  carried  aw^ay  from  home. 
He  was  later  released  and  permitted  to  walk 
home,  while  the  raiders  appropriated  his  splendid 
horse  and  placed  it  in  their  cavalry. 

Mr.  Mills'  love  of  freedom  was  very  strong 
and  manifested  itself  in  his  relation  to  men,  in  his 
study  of  doctrines,  and  in  his  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Church;  he  was  not  bound  by 
iron-clad  rules  and  a  forced  application  of  each 
rule  to  every  case;  hence,  his  great  sympathy  was 
shared  alike  by  victor  and  vanquished,  and  he 
always  stood  for  a  just  reconstruction  of  the  affairs 


HIS  MINISTRY  45 

of  the  nation  in   the   land  where   civil  revolution 
had  wrought  such  carnage. 

That  he  was  a  warrior,  no  one  will  doubt. 
Brave  and  fearless,  he  met  opposition  without 
consideration  of  danger  to  himself.  That  he  was 
a  general  is  also  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he 
considered  well  the  position  of  those  who  opposed 
him,  and,  knowing  this,  was  able  to  meet  any  at- 
tack that  might  be  brought  against  him. 

All  this  was  the  result  of  his  thought,  study, 
reading,  and  experience  in  the  formative  period 
of  time  just  preceding  his  entrance  into  the  minis- 
try, as  is  clearly  shown  in  looking  over  the  limited 
records  that  he  has  left. 

Though  desiring  to  go  to  the  foreign  field,  Mr. 
Mills  was  equally  interested  in  the  work  of  home 
missions.  He  made  application,  and  pressed  his 
claim  for  an  appointment  as  a  missionary  to  the 
frontier,  once  to  California,  and  then  to  Washing- 
ton, but  was  hindered  in  both  cases  by  feeble 
health, not  being  considered  rugged  enough  to  bear 
the  heavy  burdens  and  privations  that  would  come 
upon  him  in  that  remote  field  at  that  period. 

It  was  in  1868,  from  the  Scioto  Conference, 
held  at  Westerville,  Ohio,  that  he  was  sent  as 
assistant  pastor  to  the  Palestine  Circuit,  the  Rev. 
Josiah  Montgomery  being  the  senior  pastor.  We 
quote  from  "Our  Bishops"  a  description  of  his 
work  on  this  charge: 

"The  circuit  had  eight  appointments,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Scioto  River,  from  the  present 
town  of  Galloway  on  the  north  to  within  six  miles 
of  Circleville  on  the  south.  He  was  a  timid  lad, 
only  twenty  years  of  age,  having  tried  to  preach 


46  HIS   MINISTRY 

but  three  times,  among  total  strangers,  one 
hundred  miles  from  home.  All  his  books  and 
extra  clothes  he  carried  in  a  modern-sized  satchel, 
as  he  rode  from  place  to  place  on  horse-back.  A 
good  brother,  Asbury,  offered  him  a  pair  of  saddle- 
bags, but  his  bashfulness  made  him  wish  not  to 
appear  on  the  highway  as  a  preacher,  and  he 
declined  the  gift.  On  his  first  round,  he  stopped 
at  Rev.  George  Bowers',  one  of  the  old  German 
preachers.  In  looking  over  his  library  he  found 
a  book  entitled,  'Five  Hundred  Sketches  and 
Skeletons  of  Sermons.'  It  seemed  just  the  book 
for  a  young  preacher,  so  he  at  once  purchased  it 
and  began  to  examine  its  contents.  He  copied 
the  'skeleton'  on  Isaiah  35:  8-10  to  deliver  at 
Dennison  Chapel.  There  was  a  crowded  house 
to  hear  the  young  preacher.  After  the  intro- 
ductory services  were  over,  the  long  text  was 
announced.  The  first  proposition  was  read  from 
the  sketch  lying  in  the  Bible  before  him.  The 
preacher  was  dumb,  could  not  think  of  a  word  to 
utter,  so  the  next  proposition  was  read.  Still 
dumb,  he  read  each  proposition  to  the  final  one; 
and  in  about  five  minutes  the  task  was  finished 
and  the  preacher  was  standing  there  with  nothing 
to  say.  So  he  picked  up  the  hymn-book  and  tossed 
it  to  the  leader  (Henry  Bowers),  saying,  'Please 
close  the  service;  I  can't  preach.'  Then  the 
preacher  sat  down  and  cried  like  a  baby,  humili- 
ated almost  beyond  recovery.  Service  over,  he 
thought  to  go  and  find  his  colleague,  resign  to 
him,  and  return  home  and  never  try  to  preach 
again.  But  the  people  persuaded  him,  and  his 
fatherly  colleague  was  specially  sympathetic,  so 


HIS   MINISTRY  47 

he  remained.  However,  he  took  that  'sketch- 
book' back  to  its  former  owner,  and  sold  it  to 
him  for  one-half  the  price  he  had  paid  for  it  just 
before,  having  learned  for  life  the  most  valuable 
homiletical  lesson  known  in  that  art." 

At  the  end  of  this  year — the  first  year  of  his 
ministry — his  health  was  greatly  impaired,  and  it 
seemed  he  would  be  compelled  to  give  up  his 
chosen  work.  An  indomitable  will,  a  perseverance 
that  knew  no  defeat,  .caused  him  to  return  to  his 
father's  home  and  seek  a  renewal  of  health. 

The  winter  of  1869-70  he  spent  in  teaching  in 
the  public  schools,  and,  his  health  continuing 
to  improve,  on  September  15,  1870,  he  was 
received  into  the  annual  conference  and  appointed 
to  the  Deaverstown  Circuit.  The  results  of  his 
labor  on  the  Deaverstown  Circuit  showed  his 
ability  as  a  worker  among  the  common  people. 
These  rural  people  flocked  to  hear  him  preach  the 
gospel  in  a  simple  form,  and  they  were  greatly 
strengthened  and  benefited  by  his  year  of  ministra- 
tions. The  year  was  one,  also,  of  ingathering  and 
strengthening  for  the  church,  for  Mr.  Mills  believed 
in  revivals. 

It  was  during  the  winter  of  1869  and  1870 
that  he  was  associated  with  Miss  Sarah  S.  Medsgar 
as  teacher  in  the  public  schools  and,  on  July  31, 
1870,  they  were  united  in  marriage.  Miss  Mads- 
gar  was  brought  up  in  the  same  community  with 
Mr.  Mills  and  he  had  known  her  from  their  child- 
hood. She  was  an  admirable  woman,  whose  ster- 
ling qualities  fitted  her  for  the  position  she  was 
to  assume  as  the  wife  of  a  minister.  She  was 
a  talented  teacher  in  the  public  schools,  and,  as 


48  HIS   MINISTRY 

such,  exerted  a  strong  influence  for  good  in  the 
community.  She  was  a  descendant  of  the  "Meds- 
gar"  family,  prominently  known  in  Westmoreland 
County,  Pennsylvania.  Her  uncle.  Rev.  Joseph 
Medsgar,  was  one  of  the  strong  leaders  in  Allegheny 
Conference  of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  The 
married  life  of  these  people  was  delightful,  but  was 
of  very  short  duration,  Mrs.  Mills  dying  August 
18,  1874.  A  son  and  daughter  were  given  them, 
but  the  daughter,  an  infant,  preceded  her  mother 
to  the  heavenly  land  only  a  few  weeks.  Mrs. 
Sarah  Medsgar  Mills  was  a  woman  of  extraordinary 
beauty  and  splendid  natural  ability.  Her  mind 
was  keen,  and  her  brilliant  intellect  and  noble 
character  made  her  home-going  a  great  loss  to  the 
young  preacher,  who  had  found  her  in  every  way 
a  helper  and  source  of  encouragement,  and  a 
standby  in  difficulty. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year's  service,  as  ren- 
dered at  Deaverstown,  Mr.  Mills  was  appointed, 
by  the  Scioto  Conference,  as  pastor  in  the  city  of 
Columbus,  which  charge  he  served  for  one  year. 
As  this  was  home  missionary  work,  and  our  Church 
was  unknown  in  the  city,  the  task  was  a  very 
heavy  one.  At  the  close  of  the  first  year  of 
his  work  here,  he  felt  the  need  of  greater  prep- 
aration for  his  life  work.  In  accordance  with 
this  conception,  he  asked  for  a  local  relation,  and 
was  granted  the  same  by  his  conference  in  order 
that  he  might  pursue  a  special  course  of  study  in 
New  York  City.  This  course  of  study  included 
such  subjects  as  the  "Science  of  the  Human  Organ- 
ism," "Mutual  Relations  of  Body  and  Mind," 
"Influences  of  the  Science  of  the  Natural  History 


HIS   MINISTRY  49 

of  Man,"  as  well  as  the  "Doctrine  of  Man  in  His 
Relation  to  God."  "Personality"  formed  one  of  the 
strongest  elements  in  the  course,  and  one  in  which 
he  excelled  in  his  subsequent  life.  Having  the  in- 
tuitions of  a  scholar,  he  grasped  these  great  themes 
quickly  and  in  a  most  comprehensive  manner,  be- 
coming at  once  a  master  in  this  field  of  thought.  It 
is  important  to  know  this  fact  in  connection  with 
his  early  educational  qualifications,  in  order  to 
understand  the  keenness  of  his  thinking  in  later 
years,  when  his  mind  analyzed  to  the  remotest 
point  the  relation  of  man  to  man,  as  well  as  the 
relation  of  faculties  to  faculties  in  the  man. 

On  his  return  from  this  year  of  study  in  New 
York,  he  was  assigned  to  the  Oak  Hill  charge, 
which  he  served  for  the  year  1873  and  1874.  On 
this  charge  his  work  was  laborious;  he  was  re- 
quired to  preach  three  times  each  Sunday,  and, 
in  addition  to  this,  the  record  shows,  he  preached 
every  other  Saturday  night.  This  was  the  year 
of  the  great  panic,  known  as  the  "Panic  of  1873," 
when  every  district  in  which  the  iron  industry 
held  sway  was  affected.  All  over  the  eastern 
part  of  Ohio  and  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania, 
soup  houses  were  established  in  order  that  the 
workmen  and  their  families  might  be  protected 
from  starvation.  For  the  year's  work,  the  young 
preacher  received  the  sum  of  $135.00,  and  the  peo- 
ple felt  over-taxed  even  by  this  gift.  To  care  for 
his  household,  he  spent  some  of  his  time  in  man- 
ual labor,  working  at  whatever  he  could  obtain  in 
order  to  supplement  the  small  salary  he  was 
receiving  as  a  minister.  During  part  of  this  year 
he  taught  school,  and  during  this  period  he  held 


50  HIS   MINISTRY 

a  revival  and  organized  a  new  class  of  twenty 
members.  Dr.  H.  A.  Thompson,  in  his  "Life  of 
the  Bishops,"  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
care  which  the  Lord  manifested  over  him  and  his 
family  while  he  was  faithfully  engaged  in  his 
services : 

"As  he  was  starting  for  the  schoolroom,  one 
morning,  his  wife  asked  him  to  bring  home  some 
meat,  as  there  was  none  in  the  house.  He  assented 
and  intended  to  do  so,  but  was  so  busy  with  the 
work  of  the  day  that  he  forgot  his  meat  and  came 
home  in  the  evening  without  it.  When  he  came  in, 
his  wife  said,  'That  was  a  nice  piece  of  meat  you 
sent  up.'  He,  thinking  she  meant  thereby  to 
reprove  him  for  his  carelessness,  said,  T  forgot  all 
about  the  meat,  but  will  go  and  get  it  at  once.' 
She  answered,  'Why,  the  meat  came  all  right.' 
More  surprised  than  ever,  he  replied,  'Surely  you 
are  joking.'  With  a  smile  she  said,  'Come  and 
see.'  Sure  enough,  there  was  a  nice  ham,  but 
how  it  came  he  could  not  guess,  for  he  was  very 
sure  he  had  not  ordered  it.  Some  six  months 
after  this,  a  man  who  lived  three  miles  away  stated 
that  on  that  day  he  was  passing  the  house  with  a 
load  of  meat  for  the  market,  and  suddenly  it 
occurred  to  him  that  he  should  leave  a  ham  there, 
which  he  did.  The  preacher  in  charge  always 
regarded  it  as  providential,  for  he  would  have  been 
compelled  to  go  in  debt  had  he  purchased  it  at 
the  shop,  as  he  originally  intended." 

During  the  latter  part  of  this  year  his  wife  and 
daughter  died,  leaving  him  alone  with  his  son, 
Walter,  a  boy  of  unusual  intelligence,  and  with 
a  future  of  great  promise. 


REV.  J.  S.   MILLS,  WHEN  HE  BEGAN  HIS  PASTORATE 
AT  OTTERBEIN  UNIVERSITY 


HIS  INFLUENCE  AS  COLLEGE  PASTOR 


Chapter  IV. 

HIS  INFLUENCE  AS  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

:N  the  fall  of  1874,  Rev.  J.  S.  Mills 
began  his  pastorate  at  Otterbein 
University,  Westerville,  Ohio,  as 
university  pastor.  His  ministry  at 
the  college  was  a  benediction,  from 
the  very  first  sermon  that  he  deliv- 
ered, to  faculty,  students,  and  citizens  of  this  little 
Athens  of  culture  and  refinement.  Likely  no  man 
has  influenced  more  of  the  student  body,  as  a  pas- 
tor, than  did  Rev.  Job  S.  Mills  during  the  period 
of  his  pastorate  from  1874  to  1880.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  institution  had  beneficial  influences  on  his 
life  as  well,  for  he  began  to  develop  mentally  as  he 
used  the  opportunities  afforded  him  by  the  school. 
On  December  27,  1876,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Mary  Keister,  a  graduate  of 
Otterbein  University.  She  was  the  only  daughter 
of  Mr.  Solomon  Keister,  of  Scottdale,  Pa.,  a  sister 
of  the  Keister  brothers,  six  of  whom,  like  herself, 
graduated  from  the  college.  Seven  from  this  fam- 
ily have  completed  a  full  college  course  in  the 
institution.  This,  in  itself,  places  them  high  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence  and  ability,  and,  when  Mr. 
Mills  won  the  hand  of  the  cultured  and  refined 
daughter  of  this  home,  he  opened  the  door  of  great 
possibility  in  the  development  of  his  own  life  as  a 
worker  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  Mrs. 
Mills  at  once  became  his    most  earnest  coworker 


54  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

in  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  Quiet  and  reserved 
in  manner,  she  was  a  balance-wheel  for  him  as  he 
went  forward  with  great  strides  and  energy  in  the 
work  that  was  given  to  him  to  do.  Five  children 
blessed  this  home,  four  of  whom  with  their  mother 
are  still  living,  the  youngest  son  having  died  in 
infancy.  Those  living  are  Mr.  Alfred  Keister 
Mills,  Mrs.  Alice  R.  Rush,  Mrs.  Ellen  W.  Clip- 
pinger  and  Mrs.  A.  Lucile  Gerberick. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  look  over  the 
records  of  the  annual  conference  during  the 
period  of  Mr.  Mills'  pastorate  at  the  college.  It 
was  also  my  delight  to  come  under  the  ministry 
of  this  magnificent  man  when  I  entered  school 
in  the  fall  of  1879.  While  this  was  the  last  year 
of  his  six  years'  pastorate,  it  was  the  crowning 
year  of  the  service  that  he  rendered  to  the  people, 
and  the  records  sustain  the  recollection  and 
memory  of  the  older  membership  of  the  church, 
as  they  talk  with  delight  of  his  work. 

A  friend  writes  of  his  work  as  college  pastor  as 
follows:  The  preacher  preceding  him  was  Rev. 
E.  S.  Chapman,  an  active,  energetic,  vigorous 
man,  a  good  preacher.  He  had  lived  a  number 
of  years  in  Washington  City,  where  he  served  as 
private  secretary  to  Congressman  James  Ashley 
and  as  a  Washington  newspaper  correspondent, 
this  experience  giving  him  a  good  knowledge  of 
men.  Dr.  Chapman  gave  up  this  pastorate  to 
take  up  the  work  of  the  First  United  Brethren 
Church  in  Dayton.  To  step  into  such  a  vacancy 
was  a  hard  thing  for  an  uncultured  man  to  do,  and 
especially  one  like  Mr.  Mills  who  had  but  a  limited 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  55 

experience  in  the  ministry  and  a  more  limited 
knowledge  of  men  and  things. 

He  was  now  among  strangers  who  could  not 
enter  into  his  sorrow,  caused  by  the  death  of  his 
wife  only  a  few  months  before.  True,  he  had  at- 
tended conference  in  Westerville  some  years  before, 
but  had  learned  little  or  nothing  of  its  people.  It 
is  our  memory  that  he  was  sent  here  at  this  time 
not  of  his  own  choice  or  request,  but  induced  to 
come  by  a  ministerial  friend,  of  the  same  confer- 
ence, who  resided  here.  The  older  minister  thought 
he  saw  in  the  young  man  a  promise  of  future 
growth  and  development.  If  he  should  measure 
up  to  the  new  responsibilities  which  were  sure  to 
come  upon  him,  it  would  prove  a  great  good  to  him 
as  well  as  to  the  local  congregation.  If  he  should 
fail  to  grasp  the  situation  and  become  discouraged 
under  the  burdens,  it  would  cripple  his  life  for 
years  to  come.  All  men  must  be  tested  sooner  or 
later,  and  this  was  his  testing  time. 

He  was  a  little  past  twenty-six  years  of  age 
when  he  began  his  work  as  college  pastor.  His 
knowledge  of  books  was  quite  limited,  and  yet  he 
had  always  had  a  desire  to  acquire  knowledge. 
In  his  younger  years  he  had  written  to  the  president 
of  Otterbein  University  asking  for  a  catalogue  of 
the  institution,  and,  at  the  same  time,  telling  of 
his  limited  means  and  his  desire  for  a  better  educa- 
tion, and  inquiring  if  there  was  any  way  whereby 
he  might  labor  and  defray  a  part  of  his  expenses. 
If  a  kindly  letter  had  been  written  him  opening 
up  the  way  whereby  such  an  earnest  searcher  for 
truth  could  have  found  his  way  to  college,  how 
different  the  outlook  on  life  might  have  been  to 


56  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

him.  The  tried  boy  was  disappointed  and  gave 
up  his  efforts  to  acquire  a  college  education.  Do 
you  say  he  should  have  redoubled  his  efforts  and 
pushed  forward  in  the  face  of  discouragements 
as  others  have  done  and  have  won?  Yes,  but  in 
the  case  of  these  "others"  there  was  usually  some 
wiser  one  to  advise  and  counsel  and  encourage, 
while  this  boy  was  blessed  with  no  such  helpful 
surroundings.  He  now  concluded  that  whatever 
additional  knowledge  he  should  get  must  be  by 
his  own  personal,  persistent  effort.  He  had,  at 
the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  a  good  knowledge 
of  the  ordinary  English  branches  necessary  for 
teaching  school. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  had,  at  least,  a 
reasonable  appreciation  of  the  situation  con- 
fronting him.  Westerville  is  a  college  town,  and  the 
people  to  whom  he  was  now  to  minister  were  much 
above  the  average  in  intelligence.  In  this  church 
are  members  of  the  faculty,  some  older  and  some 
younger,  who  have  given  years  of  study  to  their 
specialties,  and  are  experts  in  the  teaching  that 
belongs  to  their  respective  departments.  True, 
they  are  sinful  men  like  all  others  and  need  a 
simple  gospel,  but,  to  have  its  due  effect  on  them, 
the  man  who  brings  the  divine  message  must  do 
it  with  such  a  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  with 
such  versatility  of  thought  and  illustration,  and 
with  such  grace  and  elegance  of  diction  as  will 
not  offend  a  cultured  taste  and  make  the  message 
of  no  effect.  Here  also  are  gathered  the  young 
men  and  women  from  the  best  families  in  the 
Church.  Happy  is  that  pastor  who  can  meet  the 
needs  of  both  these  classes,  and  so  guide  their  re- 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  51 

ligious  life  that  they  may  have  a  mature  and 
steady  development,  thus  fitting  them  for  life's 
sternest  duties;  to  so  win  the  young  people  that, 
ere  they  leave  college,  they  may  find  the  better 
way,  which  shall  prevent  them  from  making  ship- 
wreck of  their  lives,  and  make  them  successful  in 
all  their  work. 

No  one  can  do  as  much  as  the  college  pastor, 
if  he  be  a  man  of  high  ideals,  with  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  and  a  ready  tact,  which 
will  help  him  to  say  the  right  word  at  the  right 
time,  and  do  the  right  thing  at  the  right  place,  as 
he  associates  with  students. 

Mr.  Mills  went  into  this  work  determined  to 
succeed.  We  had  hoped  to  recount  something 
of  the  steady  growth  of  the  congregation  as  it 
would  be  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  official 
board  or  quarterly  conference.  In  no  other  place 
would  this  growth  likely  be  recorded.  These  rec- 
ords should  measure  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the 
disappointments  and  failures  of  the  congregation 
so  far  as  these  things  could  be  made  a  matter  of 
record.  We  made  application  to  the  official  guar- 
dians of  these  records,  but  they  could  not  be 
found.  Mr.  Mills  kept  no  diary  at  any  period  of 
his  life  except  while  on  his  trips  abroad,  so  we 
have  no  way  of  judging  of  his  own  estimate  of  the 
work.  When  urged  to  keep  a  record,  he  always 
objected,  saying  it  was  very  distasteful  to  him  to 
be  writing  things  about  himself,  and,  besides  this, 
it  seemed  a  great  waste  of  time.  The  only  other 
method  left  was  to  consult  the  memories  of  stu- 
dents who  were  then  in  college  and  came  under  his 
ministrations.     Also   the  recollections  of  the  older 


58  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

people  who  sat  under  his  preaching,  and  who  are 
still  living. 

Some  men  write  for  the  church  papers  and,  in 
their  writings,  reveal  much  of  their  work,  their 
plans,  and  their  ambitions.  Mr.  Mills  never  did 
this.  When  he  wrote  articles  for  the  press  they 
touched  only  the  subject  matter  in  hand  and  were 
devoid  of  any  personal  reference,  so  it  has  been 
difficult  to  get  concrete  material  covering  this 
eventful  period  of  his  life. 

Near  the  beginning  of  his  pastorate,  without 
consulting  any  one,  he  made  application  to  be  sent 
to  California.  If  he  had  been  accepted,  he  would 
have  resigned  his  place  at  Westerville  and  entered 
the  new  work  as  early  as  possible.  This  was  all 
done  quietly,  but,  somehow,  information  of  it  came 
to  the  older  minister  to  whom  reference  has  else- 
where been  made.  He  at  once  made  inquiry  and 
concluded  it  was  a  case  of  a  discouraged  preacher 
who,  for  some  reason,  had  conceived  the  idea  that 
the  church  did  not  want  him.  To  have  allowed 
him  to  go  away  under  such  circumstances  might 
have  embittered  his  life  and  crippled  his  future 
usefulness.  This  minister  at  once  prepared  a  pa- 
per protesting  in  the  name  of  the  congregation 
against  his  leaving,  expressing  the  confidence  of 
the  people  in  him  and  in  his  work  and  urging  him 
to  continue  as  their  pastor.  This  was  unani- 
mously signed  by  all  the  influential  members  of 
his  congregation.  When  this  was  submitted  to 
Mr.  Mills,  it  relieved  his  mind  and  he  withdrew  his 
application  from  the  missionary  board  and  re- 
turned to  his  work  with  new  zeal  and  new  aspira- 
tions. 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  59 

The  students  who  remember  these  early  years 
of  his  ministry  remember  him  as  a  great  student. 
No  doubt  he  felt  the  need  of  hard  study.  Dr. 
T.  J.  Sanders  says:  'T  have  a  vivid  picture  of  him 
as  college  pastor.  The  dominant  impression  I 
have  of  him  is  as  a  thinker,  a  student,  a  scholar — 
the  typical  scholar,  pale  as  the  proverbial  potato 
sprout  in  the  cellar.  He  lived  much  and  intensely 
with  his  books,  in  his  study.  It  was  my  first 
conspicuous  example  of  a  student  preacher.  Once 
he  took  me  into  his  study  'den' — a  square  room 
and  in  its  center  a  kind  of  hollow  square  desk 
where  he  sat  with  books  all  around  him." 

Having  failed  to  get  an  education  at  college, 
he  must  get  it  by  his  own  persistent  effort.  Rev. 
Dr.  Higginson  in  his  "Atlantic  Essays"  has  an 
able  and  interesting  article  entitled,  "Shall  Women 
Learn  the  Alphabet.^"  The  determination  of  this 
question  is  vital,  for,  if  you  concede  this  privilege 
to  them,  there  is  no  other  department  of  knowledge 
from  which  they  can  properly  be  shut  out.  This 
young  minister  could  read,  so  the  treasures  of 
knowledge  were  all  within  his  reach  and  he  had 
the  pluck  and  energy  to  enter  in  and  possess  the 
land.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  in  his  case,  for 
so  many  of  the  country  preachers  of  his  day  and 
earlier  had  been  taught  to  open  their  mouths 
(without  study)  and  the  Lord  would  fill  them. 
He  had  tried  this  plan  in  his  first  sermon  and  it 
proved  for  him  a  miserable  failure.  The  better 
way  for  him  was  to  enter  his  room,  shut  the  door, 
and,  in  the  quiet  of  his  own  chamber,  try  to  read 
God's  mighty  thoughts  after  him.  Night  after 
night,  his  lamp  was  lit  and  he  was  at  work.     This 


60  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

was  a  good  example  to  all  the  students.  They 
saw  their  pastor  busily  at  work  seeking  to  bring 
to  others  the  best  possible  message  on  the  following 
Sabbath,  and  the  lesson  of  his  shining  lamp  was 
for  them  to  go  and  do  likewise. 

One  of  the  students  still  living  and  in  active 
work  says:  "I  remember  the  first  time  I  saw  Mr. 
Mills.  He  was  sitting  on  the  platform  among  a 
number  of  college  dignitaries.  I  turned  to  the 
student  next  me  and  inquired  who  that  distin- 
guished-looking man  was  with  the  scholarly  and 
refined  face  covered  with  a  black  beard.  I  was 
informed  he  was  the  new  college  pastor.  I  was 
not  then  a  member  of  the  church,  but  I  remember 
him  well.  He  was  a  student  and  a  thoughtful  man. 
His  sermons  were  intellectual  and  appealed  to  the 
student  body,  although  his  voice  and  delivery 
were  somewhat  disappointing.  He  was  a  pro- 
gressive, up-to-date  pastor,  intellectually  and 
morally  honest.  While  progressive  in  his  methods 
and  ideas,  he  was  not  reckless  in  his  statements. 
He  did  not  believe  in  claiming  too  much,  and 
believed  the  truth  was  best  conserved  by  absolute 
honesty.  I  always  felt  that  he  had  a  real  message 
to  deliver  to  his  congregation.  The  sermons  all 
bore  marks  of  careful  preparation." 

Dr.  Sanders  says:  "As  a  preacher,  he  was 
thoroughly  vigorous,  but  not  a  fluent  speaker. 
He  would  have  an  idea,  open  his  mouth,  and  then 
wait  for  the  right  word." 

He  knew  little  of  the  tricks  or  graces  of  oratory, 
yet  he  was  a  forceful  speaker.  He  could  not  with 
propriety  be  called  an  elegant  speaker.  He  had 
been  first   a  teacher,  and  this  had  influenced  his 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  61 

style  of  speaking.  He  was  plain,  simple,  and  direct. 
He  spoke  very  deliberately,  and  at  times  with 
hesitation.  He  would  now  and  then  catch  his 
breath  as  if  laboring  to  find  the  exact  word  with 
which  to  express  his  thought.  He  would  at  times 
hold  his  hand  in  the  air  with  impressive  gesture, 
while  his  mind  labored  to  get  the  most  suitable 
word  with  which  to  follow  it.  He  did  not  always 
have  that  vividness  of  attack  which  looks  his 
hearer  directly  in  the  eye,  as  much  as  to  say,  "Thou 
art  the  man,"  but  would  raise  his  eyes  a  slight 
distance  above  their  heads.  He  was  not  an 
emotional  speaker;  his  sentences  were  not  ornate, 
or  embellished  with  literary  finish,  for  he  sought 
not  beauty  but  directness.  He  did  not  write  his 
sermons,  but  thought  them  through  clearly  and 
definitely,  took  with  him  a  few  notes  into  the 
pulpit,  and  then  trusted  God  to  help  him  reach  the 
people. 

One  who  heard  him  often,  and  who  was  a 
competent  judge  says:  "His  coming  was  a  sort  of 
a  new  era  to  us  in  the  matter  of  preaching.  He 
preached  Christ  more  as  a  Savior  and  friend  than 
as  an  enemy  of  sinners  and  an  uncompromising 
and  revengeful  judge.  This  appeared  both  in  the 
sermons  he  preached  and  in  the  hymns  he  used. 
One  of  his  favorite  hymns  contained    this  stanza, 

'For  the  love  of  God  is  broader  than  the 
measure  of  man's  mind 

And  the  heart  of  the  Eternal  is  most 
wonderfully  kind.' 
He  seemed  to  give  this  a  new  and  broader  meaning 
than  any  other  minister  I   have  ever   heard.     I 
hold  him  in  mind  as  a  kind  and  true  friend,  a  man 


62  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

of  noble  physique,  lovable  and  beloved  beyond 
that  which  is  usual  to  one  of  his  calling,  especially 
to  those  not  of  his  way  of  thinking  and  speaking." 

In  his  early  ministry  at  Westerville,  he  found 
pastoral  visiting  a  difficult  thing  to  do.  This  in 
part  grew  out  of  his  shrinking  nature  and  his  lack 
of  experience.  In  later  years,  as  his  experience 
increased,  this  bashfulness  wore  away  and  his  pas- 
toral work  was  not  so  irksome  to  him.  Rev.  A. 
Orr,  his  presiding  elder,  who  Hved  next  door  to 
him  in  Westerville  says,  "He  often  insisted  on  my 
going  with  him  to  make  pastoral  calls,  which  I  fre- 
quently did,  and  I  have  always  remembered  how 
gentlemanly  and  tender,  and  how  devotional  he 
was  on  these  occasions."  The  poor  and  the  sick,  he 
always  carefully  looked  after  and  helped. 

A  physician  of  the  town  pays  him  this  tribute, 
which  is  well  deserved:  "I  considered  him  a  true 
friend  and  a  model  pastor.  A  few  days  after  begin- 
ning my  professional  work  here,  he  came  to  me  and 
said,  'You  will  do  me  a  great  favor  in  case  you 
have  patients  who  are  members  of  my  church  or 
of  no  church  whatever,  if  you  will  inform  me  of 
that  fact  at  your  earliest  opportunity.  In  many 
cases,  you  will  learn  of  these  things  before  I  can, 
and  I  like  to  know  of  these  cases  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble.' I  always  tried  to  do  as  he  requested,  and, 
in  every  case,  so  far  as  I  remember,  he  called  upon 
those  patients.  This  experience  was  a  unique  one 
in  my  thirty-two  years  of  practice  as  a  physician. 
I  mean,  no  other  pastor  ever  made  a  like  request 
of  me," 

A  student  of  that  period,  now  a  successful 
teacher,  says,  "My  impressions  of  Mr.  Mills  as  a 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  63 

man  are  that  he  was  a  thorough  gentleman; 
courteous  and  dignified  in  bearing;  a  man  who 
honored  his  calHng  and  who  was  a  credit  to  the 
ministry  and  the  church."  He  then  adds  a  httle 
pleasantry  which  will  be  appreciated  by  those  who 
remember  the  minister  referred  to.  "There  was, 
as  you  may  recall,  a  retired  minister,  an  elderly 
gentleman  by  the  name  of  John  Dorcas,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  congregation,  and  a  very  helpful, 
attentive,  and  appreciative  listener.  The  pastor, 
in  completing  his  sermon,  was  in  the  habit  of 
winding  up  his  discourse  with  the  sentence,  'For 
all  of  which  will  Father  Dorcas  lead  us  in  prayer?' 
Then  we  were  regaled  with  a  recapitulation  of  the 
sermon  just  presented,  in  a  most  graphic,  impres- 
sive manner  from  the  eloquent  minister.  It  always 
seemed  to  me  the  discourse  was  not  complete  when 
Father  Dorcas  was  not  present  to  sum  up  the 
points  of  the  sermon." 

Not  only  was  he  a  pastor  efiicient  and  well 
beloved  by  his  own  membership,  but  he  was  in- 
terested in  those  who  had  no  church  membership. 
Says  the  same  physician  to  whom  reference  has 
already  been  made:  "I  never  knew  one  in  his 
calling  who  had  more  friends  among  those  who  were 
not  of  church,  and  who,  in  many  cases,  did  not 
seem  to  have  much  respect  for  the  church.  He 
searched  them  out  and  made  them  feel  that  he 
was  their  friend,  and  from  that  class  I  have  heard 
more  expressions  of  good  feeling  toward  him  than 
for  any  other  one  who  had  occupied  the  place  he 
was  then  filling." 

A  little  town,  with  the  population  that 
Westerville  then  had,  often  has  family  cliques  or 


64  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

political  divisions  which  take  pleasure  in  warring 
against  each  other.  There  are  many  times  in 
the  history  of  a  community  when  co-operation  of 
all  good  citizens  is  needed.  Mr.  Mills  devised  a 
plan  whereby  this  co-operation  could  be  secured. 
With  the  president  of  the  university,  he  organized 
a  society  called  "The  Round  Table."  The  mem- 
bership was  composed  of  the  members  of  the 
faculty,  all  the  resident  ministers,  physicians,  law- 
yers, the  superintendent  of  the  public  school,  and 
their  wives,  and  such  other  men  and  women  suit- 
able to  be  selected  for  place  in  the  club.  The  asso- 
ciation met  in  turns  at  the  homes  of  the  members. 
An  essayist  was  chosen  who  prepared  a  fifteen-min- 
ute paper  on  the  subject  selected,  and  then  followed 
an  open  discussion.  Following  this  a  little  time  was 
allowed  for  social  converse.  The  idea  was  to  get 
the  people  of  different  views  together,  and  if  any 
matter  of  special  interest  occurred  in  the  town 
which  would  likely  produce  a  division  of  senti- 
ment, it  could  be  threshed  out  here  first  by  these 
leaders  and  makers  of  public  opinion.  It  had  the 
desired  effect;  for  what  the  majority  agreed  upon 
here  could  be  carried  out  before  the  general  public. 
The  organization  lasted  a  number  of  years,  and  did 
good  service. 

The  whisky  war,  which  made  Westerville  fa- 
mous, occurred  in  an  effort  to  open  a  saloon  there, 
in  1875,  in  opposition  to  the  wish  of  a  large  major- 
ity of  the  people.  This  was  the  second  year  of  Mr. 
Mills'  pastorate.  A  full  account  of  this  fierce  con- 
flict is  given  in  Dr.  Henry  Garst's  "History  of 
Otterbein  University,"  beginning  on  page  fifteen. 
With    Mr.    Mills'    hatred    of   the   whole   whisky 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  65 

business,  and  his  interest  in  the  protection  of  the 
college  and  the  community,  he  could  not  keep  out 
of  the  struggle.  He  was  a  princely  man,  keeping 
his  own  counsel,  but  thoroughly  courageous  and 
willing  to  advise  radical  measures  when  they 
seemed  best.  When  the  college  building  was 
threatened  by  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort"  and 
had  to  be  guarded,  Mr.  Mills  took  his  turn  with 
members  of  the  faculty  and  the  students  in  helping 
to  watch  the  buildings.  The  press,  subsidized 
for  the  most  part  then  as  now  by  the  liquor 
interests,  criticized  in  an  unfriendly  manner  the 
citizens  of  the  town  for  the  blowing  up  of  the 
saloon.  The  council  offered  a  reward  of  $300  for 
the  arrest  of  the  guilty  parties.  The  citizens  in  a 
public  meeting  increased  this  by  an  additional  $300. 
The  guilty  parties,  so  far  as  we  know,  have  never 
been  found.  It  is  our  conviction  that,  had  Mr. 
Mills  been  so  disposed,  he  could  have  secured  both 
of  these  rewards. 

Doctor  Garst,  in  the  "History  of  Otterbein 
University,"  page  243,  says:  "Mr.  Chapman  was 
followed  by  another  young  man  destined  to  great 
usefulness  and  high  distinction  in  the  United 
Brethren  Church.  It  was  J.  S.  Mills  who  was 
pastor  first  for  six  years  from  1874  to  1880,  and 
from  1885  to  1887.  It  was  during  the  pastorate 
of  Mr.  Mills  that  both  the  attempts  to  establish 
a  saloon  in  Westerville  were  made,  and  Mr.  Mills 
bore  a  full  and  honorable  part  in  defeating  the 
attempt  though  he  did  not  share  with  his  co- 
pastors  of  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches 
the  distinction  of  being  arrested  and  prosecuted 
by  the  saloon  keepers.     His  pastorate  was  one  of 


66  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

the  most  successful,  as  well  as  the  longest  in  the 
church." 

It  is  our  judgment  that  Mr.  Mills  could  have 
given  Doctor  Garst  some  additional  information 
concerning  this  saloon  war  had  he  been  disposed 
to  do  so. 

A  word  or  two  may  not  be  out  of  place  as  to 
his  use  of  money.  He  never  would  have  become 
wealthy  from  his  own  saving,  for  he  could  not 
well  save  in  the  sense  of  hoarding  money.  He  was 
not  a  spendthrift,  but  there  were  so  many  good 
causes  to  which  money  could  be  applied.  Where 
ever  he  saw  hunger,  poverty  or  suffering,  he  wanted 
to  relieve  it,  and  if  there  was  any  money  in  his 
pocket,  it  soon  got  out.  He  was  a  very  generous 
giver.  He  inherited  this  disposition  from  his 
mother.  The  first  year  he  was  in  Westerville  his 
salary  was  $800.  This  was  so  much  more  that  he 
had  ever  received  that  he  selected  a  personal 
friend  to  be  a  treasurer  for  him  to  help  him  keep 
his  money  until  he  could  use  it.  A  minister,  a 
member  of  the  congregation  to  which  Mr.  Mills 
preached,  had  a  very  large  family,  and,  during  the 
panic,  they  were  in  very  shortened  circumstances. 
When  Mr.  Mills  heard  of  it,  he  at  once  went  to 
their  relief.  He  delighted  to  drop  a  little  money 
into  the  hands  of  the  poor.  Hundreds  of  students 
will  remember  a  good  old  lady,  "Aunty  Price," 
a  very  devoted  friend  of  the  church,  who,  in  her 
later  life,  was  at  times  in  need  of  help.  Mr.  Mills 
had  known  her  from  the  beginning  of  his  pastorate. 
Even  when  back  to  visit  in  the  town,  he  would 
hunt  her  up  and  leave  a  little  money  for  her  use. 
She  would  say  after  his  visits,  "There  are  other 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  67 

ravens  in  the  world  besides  those  Elijah  saw,  and 
they  are  not  black  either."  Liberality  was  a  pre- 
vailing trait  of  his  character  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
In  1880,  he  was  elected  presiding  elder  of 
his  conference,  which  position  he  held  for  three  and 
a  half  years.  Being  a  man  of  strong  impulse  to 
organization,  he  at  once  set  about  to  effect  a  new 
condition  of  things  from  that  which  had  obtained 
under  the  old  presiding  eldership  as  known  in 
the  Church.  Presiding  Elder  Mills  was  not  only 
a  man  who  held  great  meetings,  but  was  concerned 
about  the  organic  life  of  the  churches,  and,  as 
presiding  elder,  inquired  closely  into  the  work  of 
each  charge,  bringing  a  system  much  in  advance  of 
the  times  to  many  of  the  congregations  that  were 
willing  to  adopt  the  new  order  of  things.  He  was 
an  exceptional  presiding  elder  in  this  particular. 
It  was  hard  for  him  to  think  in  any  routine  course. 
The  rut  was  not  the  place  in  which  he  liked  to  run. 
It  was  his  deHght  to  break  down  old  methods  that 
had  become  stale  and  ineffective,  and  establish 
new  methods,  which,  in  themselves,  would  produce 
results,  and  which,  if  used,  would  bring  new  vigor 
and  strength  to  the  organization.  I  have  been 
told,  by  men  who  labored  under  him  as  their 
presiding  elder,  that  sometimes  he  was  severe 
in  his  criticism  of  the  methods  used,  and  would 
subject  the  pastor  to  a  strong  reprimand  for 
neglect  of  certain  things  requisite  to  success  in 
the  handling  of  a  charge.  While  he  was  sym- 
pathetic in  his  treatment  of  his  pastors,  he  was, 
nevertheless,  candid  and  sincere  in  urging  them 
to  the  fullest  possible  success  of  which  they  were 
capable. 


68  COLLEGE  PASTOR 

He  resigned  his  position  as  presiding  elder 
to  assume  what  seemed  to  him  a  more  important 
station,  the  pastorate  of  the  church  at  Gahon, 
Ohio,  in  1884,  reahzing  that  the  work  he  was 
doing  as  presiding  elder  was  not  as  great  as  that 
which  he  could  do  as  pastor  of  this  good  and  strong 
church.  With  no  thought  of  holding  a  position 
of  authority  or  power,  he  resigned  this  place 
to  assume  what,  in  the  mind  of  many,  would  have 
been  considered  a  subordinate  one,  but  which,  in 
his  own  mind,  was  the  highest  position  that  any  one 
could  hold  in  the  world  or  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ;  namely,  the  pastorate  of  a  church.  In 
the  life  of  Bishop  Mills  this  fact  should  be  em- 
phasized, as  it  is  the  disposition  of  many  men  to- 
day to  seek  general  positions  instead  of  holding 
fast  to  the  pastorate,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
is  the  strongest  position  one  can  occupy. 

Coming  back  to  the  pastorate  of  Otterbein 
University  in  1885  and  serving  for  two  years  he 
closed  his  work  as  a  pastor.  From  that  time  for- 
ward until  the  time  of  his  death  he  occupied  the 
position  of  college  professor,  college  president,  and 
bishop.  It  would  be  useless  for  me  to  seek  to  por- 
tray the  magnificent  work  done  in  these  years  of 
toil  as  Mr.  Mills  dealt  with  the  people  as  their  spir- 
itual adviser.  College  boys  and  girls  of  great  num- 
ber are  ready  to  proclaim  him  as  their  friend,  their 
associate,  their  inspiration,  their  protector,  and 
their  guide  during  the  period  of  their  sojourn  in 
the  school  days  at  Otterbein.  Much  could  be 
said  about  his  relation  to  the  student  body.  By 
nature  and  by  cultivation,  he  himself  was  a 
student  and  had    the    student  heart  and  spirit, 


COLLEGE  PASTOR  69 

and,  as  such,  was  capable  of  entering  into  the  joys 
and  disappointments  of  the  student  hfe.  It  was 
no  uncommon  thing  for  this  preacher-pastor  of 
the  college  to  find  boys  engaged  in  college  pranks 
and  talk  with  them  about  their  doings,  some 
innocent  and  others  not  so  innocent;  but,  in  each 
case,  he,  with  a  wisdom  that  was  exceptional, 
held  the  boys,  seeking  in  every  way  to  develop 
them  into  noble  manhood,  and  prepare  them,  by 
their  associations  in  school,  and  their  relations 
to  the  church  for  the  work  of  life,  whether  that 
be  in  the  ministry  or  business  vocations.  Once 
I  heard  him  say  that  he  believed  he  had  been  in- 
strumental in  turning  the  current  in  the  life  of  a 
very  bad  boy  in  school — one  who  had  completely 
disgusted  his  teachers,  and  whom  the  president  of 
the  school  was  about  ready  to  advise  to  go  home. 
By  his  strong  and  helpful  influence  over  that  life, 
he  was  enabled  to  see  that  young  man  enter  the 
Christian  ministry,  and  become  one  of  the  strong- 
est workers  in  the  vineyard  of  Jesus  Christ.  In 
no  case  did  he  lose  the  respect  and  esteem  of  the 
students  by  betrayal  of  them,  or  by  severe  criti- 
cism, but  rather  held  them  to  that  which  was  pure 
and  good,  thus  becoming  a  controlling  power  in 
the  personal  conduct  and  life  of  the  student  body. 
This  second  term  as  college  pastor  lasted  two 
years,  beginning  in  1885  and  ending  in  1887. 
Doubtless  this  pastorate  would  have  continued 
for  many  years  had  he  not  been  called  to  accept  a 
position  in  Western  College.  He  assumed  this 
position  at  the  opening  of  the  school  year  in 
September. 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  TO  THE  MISSION 
FIELDS  AND  FOREIGN  TRAVEL. 


Chapter  V. 

EPISCOPAL     VISITS     TO     THE     MISSION 
FIELDS  AND  FOREIGN  TRAVEL. 

IN    AFRICA. 

^T  the  request  of  The  Home,  Fron- 
tier, and  Foreign  Missionary  Soci- 
ety, Bishop  J.  S.  Mills  made  his 
first  missionary  journey  to  Sierra 
Leone,  West  Africa,  in  the  years 
1896-97. 

He  sailed  from  New  York,  October  10,  1896, 
on  the  steamship  Lucania,  reached  Liverpool, 
October  17,  and  left  there  within  three  hours,  on 
the  steamship  Angola,  for  Freetown,  West  Africa. 
The  Grand  Canaries  were  reached  on  October 
24,  and  he  remained  there  until  the  twenty-sixth, 
reaching  Freetown  on  the  afternoon  of  November 
1,  1896,  which  was  Sunday.  He  was  met  by  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  J.  R.  King,  of  Shenge,  and  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  L.  A.  McGrew,  of  Rotifunk,  with  whom  he 
went  ashore  at  once.  He  took  up  his  residence 
in  the  mission  house  rented  by  our  missionaries 
from  Mrs.  Caulker. 

On  Wednesday,  the  fourth  of  November,  he 
laid  the  cornerstone  of  the  sanitarium  on  Mt. 
Leicester,  four  and  a  half  miles  above  Freetown. 
He  was  assisted  in  the  ceremony  by  the  United 
States  Consul,  Hon.  Robert  P.  Pooley,  the  Rev. 
Mr.    Maude,    superintendent    of    the    Wesleyan 


74  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

missions,  and  the  six  missionaries — Dr.  and  Mrs. 
John  R.  King,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  L.  A.  McGrew,  and 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  F.  S.  Minshall.  He  took  as  his 
text  on  this  occasion  the  following  words:  "Come 
ye  yourselves  apart  into  a  desert  place,  and  rest 
a  while."  "And  he  took  Peter,  James  and  John 
into  a  mountain  to  pray." 

It  would  be  interesting  to  produce  the  outline 
of  that  address,  as  he  traced  the  events  in  the 
private  life  of  Jesus  with  their  lessons:  the  thirty 
years  at  Nazareth;  the  forty  days  in  the  wilderness; 
the  retirement  sometimes  for  physical  rest,  and 
the  retirement  for  social  recreation;  concluding 
with  a  description  of  the  retirement  to  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration  for  glorious  visions  and  reve- 
lations. 

On  that  same  evening  he  received  news  of 
the  election  of  William  McKinley,  President  of 
the  United  States. 

In  looking  over  his  diary,  we  find  that  he 
visited  Governor  Cardew  and  Cannon  Taylor 
Smith.  He  also  visited  the  Fourah  Bay  College, 
and  examined  in  detail  the  work  of  this  excellent 
school.  He  describes  the  teachers  as  being  very 
courteous  in  their  treatment  of  him,  and  very  help- 
ful in  giving  information. 

On  November  11,  he  left  by  boat,  at  11:00 
P.  M.,  for  Shenge,  our  oldest  mission  station, 
reaching  there  on  the  thirteenth.  Here  he  was 
met  by  Rev.  A.  T.  Howard  and  wife  and  Miss 
Minnie  Eaton;  many  natives  also  came  to  the 
landing  to  welcome  him.  He  visited  and  inspected 
all  the  buildings  and  grounds.  Bishop  Mills,  in 
his  visits  to  Africa,  gave  close  attention  to  every 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  75 

detail  pertaining  to  our  work.  He  preached  twice 
on  the  following  Sunday,  morning  and  evening; 
and  on  the  sixteenth  left  by  boat  for  Rotifunk, 
reaching  there  on  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth. 
On  the  eighteenth  he  visited  Palli  and  Bompeh 
and  spoke  at  these  missions.  This  running  de- 
scription is  given  to  show  with  what  minute  detail 
Bishop  Mills  entered  into  the  work  of  the  mission 
field;  and  no  one  can  read  his  record  of  that  trip 
without  realizing  that  he  gave  to  it  his  very  best 
thought  and  attention. 

Writing  in  his  diary  on  January  29,  1897,  he 
says:  "Arrived  in  Freetown.  Took  the  fever 
about  one  hour  before  reaching  town."  On  the 
thirteenth  he  says,  "At  Mt.  Leicester  resting. 
Fever  continues."  On  February  1:  "Came  back 
to  Freetown.  Missionary  conference  in  the  even- 
ing at  Anna  Walsh  school-building."  In  writing  of 
this  conference,  he  says:  "All  except  the  C.  M.  S. 
wanted  to  recognize  certain  lines  or  fields  of  work 
for  each  body;  but  the  C.  M.  S.  General  Secretary 
declined  in  a  way  that  showed  much  bigotry.  It 
was  a  mistake  that  he  was  made  chairman,  as  he 
was  very  arbitrary  in  his  method.  Cannon  Taylor 
Smith,  now  Bishop-elect,  made  a  fine  impression 
of  liberality  on  me,  but  this  secretary  produced 
the  opposite  effect." 

On  February  2,  after  three  strenuous  months, 
Bishop  Mills  left  Freetown  on  the  steamship  Daho- 
may.  The  Bishop  carried  with  him  the  African  fever, 
from  which  he  never  fully  recovered.  He  reached 
Liverpool  on  February  22.  He  says  in  reference 
to  the  trip:   "Reached  Liverpool  after  a  long  but 


76  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

pleasant  voyage.  Good  weather  all  the  way. 
Nothing  of  special  note  except  the  surprising 
amount  of  liquor  Englishmen  can  drink  without 
getting  drunk.  It  seems  to  be  natural  with  them." 
Of  himself  he  says,  "I  have  put  in  the  time  studying 
German  and  French,  eating,  and  sleeping." 

After  arriving  at  Liverpool,  Bishop  Mills 
decided  to  spend  a  little  time  in  side  trips  on  his 
way  to  Germany,  where  he  would  visit  the  missions 
we  then  had  in  the  German  Empire.  In  looking 
through  his  record,  I  find  that  he  reached  London 
February  23.  He  gives  a  description  of  the 
beautiful  country,  of  the  yards  and  parks  and 
fields  that  impressed  him  as  very  interesting  and 
delightful.  He  speaks  of  the  most  interesting 
thing  to  him  as  being  the  place  where  Wallace  was 
imprisoned  and  died.  "The  old  ax  and  block  used 
in  the  death  of  many  noble  souls,  are  still  shown." 

In  the  British  Museum,  the  place  of  special 
interest  to  him  was  the  library  and  reading  room 
or  consulting  room,  where  is  found  the  Alexandrian 
Codex  of  the  Bible.  His  student  mind  made  this 
place  a  Mecca  for  him. 

In  writing  of  Westminster  Abbey,  which  he 
visited  on  February  25,  he  speaks  of  the  Poets' 
Corner  and  the  special  chapel  containing  the 
royal  remains  and  monuments  being  of  chief  in- 
terest. He  says,  "Here  lie  the  good  and  the  great 
of  England's  past  history." 

He  reached  Berlin  on  the  evening  of  February 
26,  and  the  following  day  was  met  by  Rev.  H. 
Barkemyer.  They  stopped  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Eichmiler,  where  the  Bishop  was  taken  ill  with 
African    fever    and    the    doctor   was    called.     On 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  77 

February  28  he  delivered  his  first  lecture  on  Africa, 
Rev.  Mr.  Barkemyer  being  the  interpreter  for 
him.  It  is  interesting  to  note  this  personal  refer- 
ence, in  writing  of  that  day:  "This  is  my  birth- 
day, though  no  one  here  knows  it.  It  will  be 
remembered  at  home." 

He  visited  every  station  in  our  German  work, 
and  gives  a  vivid  description  of  the  property  and 
people  as  he  went  from  place  to  place.  He  was 
especially  strong  in  his  ability  to  get  an  inside  view 
of  the  work  of  each  station. 

On  March  4,  he  came  back  to  Berlin  and 
visited  the  university  and  the  museums,  and  on 
March  8,  he  was  at  Dresden,  and  visited  the  art 
galleries  and  museum.  From  Dresden  he  went  to 
Leipsic,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  the  university 
and  other  places  of  interest.  Later  on,  he  spent 
some  time  at  Weimar,  attending  a  ministerial 
association  meeting.  He  gives  interesting  de- 
scriptions of  the  museums  and  monuments  which 
he  saw  throughout  Europe.  Few  travelers  could 
gather  is  so  short  a  time  such  full  notes  as  he  has 
in  his  diary  of  this  trip. 

On  March  11,  he  met  the  German  Conference 
and  presided  over  this  body.  He  refers  to  the 
good  spirit  found  in  the  conference.  He  complains, 
in  his  notes,  of  the  church  being  kept  so  cold  that 
the  vapor  of  one's  breath  could  always  be  seen  in 
the  air.  He  says:  "I  expressed  a  doubt  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  such  a  cold  room,  but  the  chairman 
thought  he  liked  it,  yet  I  noticed  he  kept  his  over- 
coat on.  However,  the  cough  and  sneeze  heard 
convinced  me  of  the  unwisdom  of  such  cold 
churches.     The   reports   and   discussions   made   a 


78  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

favorable  impression  on  me,  only  I  have  a  vague 
fear  of  the  future  of  the  work.  Two  or  three  men 
control  the  conference  and  have  parceled  out  the 
lion's  share  of  money  and  honors,  etc.,  to  them- 
selves. This  will  give  trouble  in  the  future.  The 
preachers  are  too  conservative  in  methods  to 
succeed  well  in  America.  Maybe  they  can  get  on 
in  Germany.  The  work  should  have  been  more 
concentrated,  not  separated  over  so  wide  a  field. 
The  brethren  made  me  a  fine  present  of  a  case  of 
photos  of  Goethe  and  Schiller  memorials." 

Speaking  of  the  Sunday,  he  said,  "I  preached 
in  the  morning  and  lectured  on  Africa  in  the 
evening." 

On  March  15,  he  tells  of  being  in  Berlin,  where 
he  saw  the  Emperor  and  Empress  ride  down 
"Unter  den  Linden"  in  an  open  carriage. 

After  leaving  Berlin,  he  visited  London;  and 
from  there  went  to  Cambridge  University,  then  to 
Oxford.  Having  studied  these  two  great  schools 
of  England,  for  a  number  of  days,  he  left  for 
Liverpool,  and  sailed  for  home  on  the  steamship 
Umbria,  March  19,  1897,  landing  in  New  York 
City  at  9:00  A.M.  March  28,  and  reaching  his 
home  March  30,  after  nearly  six  months'  absence. 

He  closed  his  description  with  these  beautiful 
words,  "God's  providence  has  been  over  us  all 
for  good,  to  whom  be  glory  and  honor  forever." 


EPISCOPAL   VISITS  79 

NOTES  AND  INCIDENTS  OF  THE  VISITS 

OF  BISHOP  MILLS  TO  AFRICA 

By  Rev.  J.  R.  King,  D.D. 

Superintendent  of  Missions,  West  Coast,  Africa 

The  First  Visit 

November  and  December,  1896,  and  January, 
1897,  three  months,  were  spent  by  Bishop  Mills 
in  this  visitation — the  longest  time  spent  in 
Africa  by  any  bishop  except  Bishop  Flickinger, 
who  was  solely  a  foreign  Bishop. 

The  first  work  of  Bishop  Mills  on  landing 
was  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  Bethany 
Cottage,  at  Mt.  Leicester.  He  suggested  that 
name  because  Jesus  had  found  such  rest  and  quiet 
in  the  "Bethany  Home"  of  Mary,  Martha,  and 
Lazarus.  His  address  on  the  occasion  was  beau- 
tiful, based  on  the  text,  "Come  ye  apart  and  rest 
awhile."  The  first  station  he  visited  was  Shenge, 
where  he  spent  a  Sabbath  and  looked  into  the  work 
of  the  Rufus  Clark  and  Wife  Training  School. 
From  there  he  went  to  Rotifunk,  and  from  this 
place  as  a  center,  visited  all  the  stations  at  the 
time  under  the  Woman's  Missionary  Association — 
Bompeh,  Palli,  and  Rokon. 

At  Rotifunk  he  proved  a  great  blessing  to 
the  missionaries;  for  he  found  them  greatly  dis- 
couraged over  the  possibility  of  losing  some  of 
their  best  native  workers,  owing  to  a  salary  scale 
to  which  they  felt  they  could  not  submit.  His 
influence  upon  the  native  workers  was  helpful, 
and  his  counsel  to  the  missionaries  practical. 

At  this  place  the  trip  to  the  interior  was 
organized.     The  party  consisted  of  himself,  Rev. 


80  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

and  Mrs.  McGrew,  Miss  Cronise,  and  J.  R.  King, 
with  nearly  forty  carriers,  and  George  Keister  as 
interpreter.  The  tour  was  made  primarily  for 
investigation  of  the  most  suitable  places  for 
locating  future  mission  stations,  and  we  had  with 
us  letters  of  introduction  to  the  important  chiefs 
from  the  Secretary  of  Native  Affairs  of  the  colony 
and  protectorate.  We  visited  first  Senehu,  at 
that  time  the  home  of  Madam  Yoko,  the  strongest 
chief  of  the  Mendi  Country.  Other  important 
towns  visited  were  Yoyema,  Moyamba,  Kwellu, 
Taiama,  Gonduma,  Mongherri,  Dodo,  Panguma, 
and  Lailehun. 

While  the  trip  was  primarily  for  new  stations, 
it  was  no  less  evangelistic.  A  magic  lantern  was 
carried,  and,  at  the  stops  for  the  night,  we  preached 
to  large  audiences,  and  at  the  halt  for  the  noon-day 
meal  a  good  service  was  held. 

Into  all  this  work  the  Bishop  entered  most 
enthusiastically.  He  often  referred  during  this 
visit  to  his  offering  to  come  as  a  missionary  when 
he  was  a  young  man  and  his  rejection  by  the  board. 
Many  of  these  people  were  hearing  the  gospel  for 
the  first  time,  and  he  took  up  the  work  with  the 
zeal  of  a  young  missionary.  It  had  been  his 
ambition  to  reach  Kanre  Lahun  on  the  eastern 
frontier  of  the  protectorate.  We  made  forced 
marches,  for  our  time  was  limited;  at  times  march- 
ing as  much  as  nine  or  ten  hours  in  the  day.  When 
we  reached  Panguma  we  were  still  three  daj^s  or 
over  from  Kanre  Lahun,  and  the  English  officer 
in  charge  would  not  allow  us  to  proceed,  for  there 
had  been  a  tribal  war  in  that  district  just  a  short 
time  before  and  a  punitive  expedition  had  just 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  81 

returned  with  stores  of  old  guns  and  swords  that 
they  had  captured.  We  proceeded  as  far  as 
Elailehun,  a  half  day  east  of  Panguma,  and  then 
spent  the  Sunday  at  Panguma,  where  we  were  the 
guests  of  the  officer  in  charge,  Captain  Cave- 
Brown-Cave.  He  was  of  a  genial  disposition  and 
was  very  much  pleased  with  the  Bishop.  At  this 
place  the  Bishop  shot  a  "bush  fowl,"  very  similar 
to  the  pheasant,  at  a  long  range,  and  the  captain 
was  so  excited  that  he  forgot  himself,  for  the  time 
being,  and  used  profane  language  in  his  exclama- 
tion, much  to  his  own  embarrassment  when  he 
realized  what  he  had  done. 

The  captain  greatly  admired  the  Bishop's 
insight  into  character  and  heredity.  He  told  the 
captain  that  his  father  was  probably  a  clergyman, 
which  was  true. 

At  that  time  we  had  not  the  facility  for 
traveling  that  we  now  have,  and  we  took  conditions 
pretty  much  as  we  found  them.  We  depended 
largely  upon  native  food,  which  was  practically 
confined  to  rice  and  an  occasional  chicken. 

On  our  return  trip,  the  party  separated  at 
Kunduma,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  McGrew  and  Miss 
Cronise  going  direct  to  Rotifunk,  and  the  Bishop 
and  myself  going  by  way  of  Damballa,  Mano, 
G'Bambaiah  and  Avery  Station  at  Bonthe, 
Sherbro.  At  Damballa  the  chief  gave  us  a  goat 
and  a  large  amount  of  rice,  and  the  Bishop  greatly 
enjoyed  the  change  of  food.  Especially  did  he 
enjoy  the  oranges  that  we  found  at  this  place. 
He  thought  they  were  the  best  that  he  had  ever 
eaten.  He  later  advised  me  to  try  to  get  some  of 
them  to  plant  at  our  mission  stations,  because  they 


82  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

were  extra  fine.  On  subsequent  visits  to  this 
place  I  have  sampled  them  and  found  they  were 
no  better  than  many  others  I  have  found  in  the 
country.  We  had  been  so  long  on  one  kind  of  food 
and  had  not  been  able  to  find  oranges  on  the  trip, 
that  he  thought  them  of  superior  quality. 

On  this  return  journey  the  Bishop  developed 
a  slight  touch  of  dysentery,  probably  due  to  the 
water  we  had  to  drink,  and  the  eating  of  wild 
fruit  of  a  very  acid  nature,  known  as  chinchi. 
The  carriers,  however,  attributed  his  illness  to 
his  having  touched  a  fetish  that  was  suspended 
from  a  kola  tree  to  prevent  the  nuts  being  stolen. 
The  natives  were  sure  this  was  the  cause  of  his 
sickness,  and  reproached  him  for  not  observing 
their  views. 

The  trip  was  full  of  delays  and  annoyances. 
At  times  the  carriers  thought  he  was  too  heavy, 
although  we  had  an  extra  set  of  men  for  him,  in 
order  to  give  them  a  chance  to  change  off.  This 
complaint  was  probably  due,  as  it  is  in  most  cases 
of  such  sort  of  complaint,  to  their  finding  him  very 
kind  and  sympathetic,  and  wishing  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it.  They  thought  they  could  obtain 
extra  pay  from  him  by  this  method. 

We  reached  Mano  on  the  return  trip  late  in  the 
evening,  and  wanted  to  leave  the  next  morning, 
as  soon  as  we  could  have  an  interview  with  the 
chief  with  reference  to  opening  a  station  there. 
When  we  were  ready  to  start,  several  of  our  men 
could  not  be  found.  It  was  a  trick  to  keep  us 
back  so  that  we  would  spend  the  Sunday  there. 
We  could  not  gratify  their  wish  in  this,  and  started 


EPISCOPAL   VISITS  83 

on  the  way  and  spent  Sunday  in  a  small  dirty 
village  about  three  hours'  walk  from  Mano. 

On  Monday  evening,  a  little  after  dark,  we 
reached  G'Bambaiah  after  a  march  of  nearly 
thirty-five  miles.  The  Bishop  was  still  weak  from 
his  illness,  and  had  used  both  his  carriers  and  mine 
to  enable  us  to  get  on  without  his  having  to  walk 
so  much. 

At  G'Bambaiah  we  stopped  with  Rev.  D.  F. 
Wilberforce  and  family,  and  it  was  the  first  time 
we  had  slept  in  a  proper  bed  for  over  three  weeks. 
I  shall  never  forget  how  he  enjoyed  the  good,  soft, 
clean  bed. 

On  this  trip,  he  manifested  his  remarkable 
powers  for  observation.  He  mentions  in  his  book 
on  Africa,  the  discovery  of  a  falls  that  he  named 
Lucile,  in  honor  of  his  youngest  daughter.  He  was 
the  only  one  of  the  party  whose  keen  ear  had  caught 
the  sound  of  the  waterfall.  He  was  constantly 
picking  up  bits  of  information  both  in  the  folklore 
of  the  people  and  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  country. 

The  names*  he  would  give  to  mountain  peaks 
and  waterfalls  revealed  to  us  how  much  his  family 
was  in  his  mind,  although  he  seemed  to  be  so 
perfectly  given  up  to  a  study  of  his  surroundings. 

Reaching  Bonthe  just  before  the  time  for  the 
meeting  of  the  conference,  he  officiated  at  the 
wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anthony.  Mrs.  Anthony 
was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  at  the  last  yielded  to 
the  plan  of  the  priest  to  be  married  by  them  in 
their  church.  The  Bishop,  with  the  rest  of  the 
missionaries,  attended  the  marriage  at  the  Roman 
Church,  and  then  headed  the  procession  to  our 

♦These  names  will  be  found  in  his  book  "Africa." 


84  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

church,  where  he  proceeded  to  perform  the  cere- 
mony according  to  our  rites.  That  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Anthony  appreciated  this,  was  evident  from  the 
fact  that  they  called  their  first  son,  Job  Mills 
Anthony. 

In  addition  to  holding  the  conference,  he 
lectured  on  the  subject,  "Will  Power  in  the  Battle 
of  Life."  The  lecture  was  so  much  appreciated 
that  a  number  of  persons  requested  him  to  repeat 
it  in  Freetown  when  he  returned  on  his  home 
journey,  which  he  did. 

After  the  conference,  he  undertook  not  only 
to  visit  the  remaining  stations  which  were  open 
at  that  time,  but  he  insisted  on  visiting  the  sites 
of  abandoned  stations,  and  wherever  we  had  any 
title  to  lands.  He  wanted  to  see  all.  This  necessi- 
tated a  visit  to  the  Cockboro  River  and  its  trib- 
utaries. In  attempting  to  reach  Rembe,  one  of 
the  unoccupied  stations,  we  were  misled  as  to  the 
distance  we  had  to  walk  overland.  Leaving  the 
boat  at  a  town  called  Marthyn,  we  started  for 
Rembe,  which  we  were  led  to  believe  could  be 
reached  by  a  half  hour's  walk.  We  finally  reached 
the  place  after  two  hours  of  most  laborious 
walking,  a  good  part  of  the  way  through  soft 
sand.  He  was  too  tired  to  preach  to  the  people 
when  we  arrived,  and  rested  while  I  talked  to 
them.  We  were  obliged  to  return,  although  it 
was  then  dark,  for  our  food  and  bedding  were  in 
the  boat.  After  resting  awhile,  we  started  back; 
but  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  rest  several  times 
on  the  way.  On  reaching  the  boat,  he  was  too 
tired  to  eat.  We  slept  in  the  boat  out  in  the 
river  and,  although  we    were  under   an   awning, 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  85 

in  the  morning  we  were  quite  wet  from  the  damp- 
ness of  the  air. 

We  next  visited  some  unoccupied  stations 
on  the  Tucker  River  and  its  principal  branch,  the 
Pah  River.  After  ascending  the  latter  river,  we 
were  obliged  to  send  the  boat  back  to  take  some 
missionaries  to  Shenge.  We  undertook  to  reach 
».ur  destination  by  road  along  the  river,  which 
proved  to  be  very  swampy,  and  the  two  men  that 
we  had  taken  along  to  carry  him  through  these 
swampy  places  found  it  difficult  to  do  so.  Just 
before  we  reached  the  town,  we  came  to  a  long 
swamp,  probably  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long.  They 
attempted  to  carry  him  in  the  hammock  and  suc- 
ceeded very  well  till  they  got  into  mud  above  their 
knees,  and  had  some  short  turns  to  make  around 
the  trees.  Then  they  stuck  fast,  and  he  had  to 
climb  on  to  the  low  spreading  mangrove  trees 
and  swing  himself  from  one  to  another,  thus 
reaching  the  river.  In  the  meantime,  I  had  secured 
a  broken  dug-out  canoe  and  got  him  into  it  and 
sent  him  across  the  stream.  I  noticed  him  lying 
on  the  bank  while  the  canoe  was  returning  for  me, 
and  found,  on  reaching  him,  that  he  had  almost 
fainted  from  weakness. 

The  chief's  head  wife  had  died  a  short  time 
before  this,  and  the  Bundoo  Society  (a  female 
secret  organization)  was  doing  her  the  honor  of 
nightly  dances.  This  they  did  through  the  whole 
night  we  were  there.  The  Bishop  had  been  hav- 
ing fever  of  a  low  type  and  this  added  greatly  to 
his  discomfort. 

On  going  to  the  Tucker  River,  we  stopped  on 
our  way  and  settled  a  dispute  between  a  native 


86  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

pastor  and  his  principal  member,  so  that  the  way- 
might  be  clear  to  put  some  finishing  touches  on 
a  native  chapel,  and  have  it  dedicated  on  our 
return.  The  Bishop  dedicated  this  church  as  we 
came  back.  We  reached  Otterbein  station  on 
Saturday,  a  little  after  twelve  o'clock,  after  a 
wearisome  march.  Shortly  after  arriving,  we 
heard  that  a  strange  sea  animal  had  been  caught 
at  a  town  a  mile  and  a  half  away.  Weary  as  he 
was,  and  under  a  noon-day  tropical  sun,  yet  he 
could  not  be  persuaded  not  to  go  to  see  it. 

The  dedication  above  referred  to,  took  place 
January  24,  1897. 

He  had  now  visited  all  the  stations  occupied 
or  unoccupied,  and  shortly  afterward  we  went  to 
Freetown  on  his  return  trip.  In  Freetown,  he 
assisted  in  arranging  an  interdenominational  con- 
ference of  the  heads  of  the  different  missions  and 
participated  in  the  discussions.  This  conference 
was  continued  yearly  for  several  years  afterwards. 
The  last  month  of  his  stay,  he  was  in  the  grip  of 
a  low  malarial  fever,  and  all  the  missionaries 
breathed  easier  when  they  knew  he  was  in  a 
healthier  climate. 

The  Second  Visit 

He  arrived  on  his  second  visit  a  few  days 
before  Thanksgiving,  1903.  At  this  time,  the 
mission  had  headquarters  in  Freetown,  and  he 
soon  ingratiated  himself  into  the  esteem  of  those 
he  met  here,  at  a  reception  given  in  his  honor,  and 
also  in  the  homes  of  church  and  state,  where  he 
was  invited  with  open-hearted  colonial  hospitality. 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  87 

A  more  limited  itinerary  was  planned  for  this 
trip  than  the  former  one.  On  November  29,  1903, 
he  dedicated  our  chapel  at  Mano,  and  the  next 
day  visited  Taiama.  Then  we  returned  to  the 
railway,  and  from  Rotifunk  took  a  boat  journey  to 
Shenge,  Otterbein,  Daymah,  and  Bonthe.  While 
at  Bonthe,  we  heard  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Riebel. 
She  had  then  been  buried  three  days  when  the 
news  reached  us.  He  was  greatly  grieved  that  he 
could  not  have  been  present  to  comfort  and  help 
in  this  time  of  sore  bereavement.  His  visit  came 
at  a  time  of  much  sickness  in  the  mission.  In 
addition  to  Mrs.  Riebel's  fatal  illness,  Mr.  Riebel 
himself  was  having  frequent  fevers,  Mrs.  Snyder 
had  to  be  sent  away  to  the  Canary  Islands,  owing 
to  a  breakdown,  and  Mr.  Snyder  was  too  ill  to 
accompany  her.  Shortly  after  this,  Miss  Murrel 
was  sent  home  after  a  severe  attack  of  black-water 
fever.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  his  counsel  and 
sympathy  were  of  incalculable  help  to  the  mission 
at  this  time. 

From  Bonthe,  we  went  up  the  Bargru  River 
and  its  tributaries,  visiting  the  Mo  Banta  station 
and  the  one  at  Sembehu.  Then  came  an  overland 
journey  to  Moyamba,  where  the  church  was  re- 
opened and  new  windows  and  carpet  dedicated. 
We  arrived  in  Freetown  just  a  few  days  before 
Christmas,  but  the  malaria  had  already  made 
itself  felt  and  he  had  a  fever.  He  was  sufficiently 
well  to  attend  a  dinner  on  Christmas  Day  at  the 
home  of  the  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  the  next 
day  start  for  Rotifunk,  where  the  conference  was 
to  be  held.  The  conference  was  in  session  from 
December  26,  1903,  to  January  3,  1904.     He  held 


88  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

a  most  helpful  Bible  conference  and  assisted  each 
night  in  the  evangelistic  services.  His  remarkable 
energy  and  application  were  shown  in  that,  not- 
withstanding all  this  work,  he  read  a  new  book  on 
theology  during  this  week.  At  the  close  of  the 
conference,  missionaries  and  native  pastors  alike 
said  that  it  was  the  most  helpful  one  they  had  yet 
attended. 

While  on  this  visit  he  did  not  travel  as  much 
as  on  the  former  one,  his  work  was  equally  helpful 
to  the  mission,  for  this  was  just  before  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  church  in  Freetown,  and  a  school  for 
the  training  of  workers  was  also  under  consider- 
ation. His  advice  and  vision  were  very  helpful 
in  planning  for  these  agencies  and  since  estab- 
lished they  will  continue  to  benefit  from  his  help 
given  in  days  before  they  came  into  being. 

A  Personal  Word 

I  wish  to  add  a  personal  word  of  appreciation, 
and  yet  language  would  fail  me  utterly  in  ex- 
pressing the  high  regard  in  which  I  held  Bishop 
Mills.  In  the  whole  of  his  two  visits,  there  were 
not  two  weeks  that  I  was  not  with  him.  I  walked 
with  him  under  a  blazing  sun,  through  sands  and 
over  mountains,  I  traveled  up  and  down  the  tidal 
rivers  and  on  the  open  sea  in  small  boats.  At  the 
home  of  the  bishop  or  governor,  or  sleeping  in  a 
rude  hut  or  open  boat,  or  stooping  over  the  small 
box  that  contained  our  food,  I  found  him  always 
the  same  dignified  gentleman,  considerate  for 
others,  keen  for  information,  and  willing  to  impart 
help. 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  89 

A  question  would  always  reveal  the  fact  that 
his  master  mind  was  constantly  working  upon  some 
problem.  He  fulfilled  faithfully  the  special  mission 
upon  which  he  came  to  Africa,  but  he  saw  farther 
and  deeper  than  the  routine  of  the  work;  for  while 
he  worked  faithfully  for  the  church  of  his  choice, 
he  had  a  vision  wider  than  its  pales.  His  large 
soul  knew  no  limit  less  than  the  entire  race.  I 
think  this  explained  his  deep  interest  in  the 
question  of  church  union.  I  remember  one  night 
at  the  interior  town  of  Mano,  we  were  looking  for 
the  "southern  cross,"  and  talking  of  the  prospects 
for  union  between  the  three  denominations  at  that 
time  contemplated.  He  told  of  his  plan  for  union 
in  creed  and  polity,  and  said  that  he  had,  upon 
request,  left  his  plan  before  sailing,  lest  he  might 
not  return.  Then  he  turned  to  me  and  said,  'T 
would  rather  never  return  to  my  home  and  coun- 
try than  to  have  this  movement  fail,  for  I  see  so 
much  in  it  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of 
God." 

Personally,  his  life  has  been  a  great  inspiration 
to  me.  Had  I  been  true  to  all  the  impulses  for 
study  and  research  that  association  with  him  has 
produced,  I  would  be  a  much  stronger  and  more 
efficient  servant  of  the  Church  to-day  than  I  am. 
Yet,  as  I  look  backward,  I  can  see  places  where 
the  current  of  his  helpful  life  has  caught  my  little 
bark  and  carried  it  to  a  point  it  otherwise  would 
not  have  attained.  What  I  say  for  myself,  I  say 
for  all  the  missionaries  who  came  under  his  direct 
influence  in  Africa. 


90  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

IN  PORTO  RICO. 

By  Alfred  Keister  Mills. 

Mr.  Mills  accompanied  his  father  on  this  visitation. 

First  Visit,  October — November,  1902. 

Our  work  in  Porto  Rico  was  started  soon  after 
the  occupation  of  the  island  by  the  United  States, 
during  the  Spanish-American  War.  In  the  section 
of  the  island  allotted  the  United  Brethren  Church 
in  which  to  work — the  section  comprising  the  dis- 
tricts of  Yauco,  Guayanilla,  Penuelas,  Ponce,  and 
Juana  Diaz — the  work  had  gone  forward  steadily 
under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  N.  H.  Huffman  and 
Rev.  Philo  W.  Drury.  In  the  beginning  the  mis- 
sionaries had  rented  halls  in  which  to  hold  their 
school  and  church  services;  but  the  advancement 
in  numbers  and  influence  had  warranted  the  build- 
ing of  an  excellent  church  at  Ponce,  in  the  summer 
of  1902. 

As  no  bishop  of  the  Church  had  visited  the 
island,  it  was  strongly  urged  that  one  be  sent  to 
dedicate  the  new  church,  and  to  look  over  the  field 
with  a  view  to  extension  of  work.  It  was  felt  that 
such  a  visit  by  a  bishop  would  encourage  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  field,  add  prestige  to  the  work,  and 
put  the  home  church  in  possession  of  facts  leading 
to  increased  interest  in  missionary  endeavor  in 
Porto  Rico. 

It  was  decided  that  Bishop  Mills  should  make 
such  a  visitation,  and  November  2,  1902,  was  set 
as  the  date  for  the  dedication  of  the  new  church. 

Bishop  Mills,  accompanied  by  Bishop  W.  M. 
Bell,  then  missionary  secretary,  and  myself,  sailed 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  91 

from  New  York  the  last  of  October,  and  reached 
San  Juan  in  the  course  of  a  week.  From  San 
Juan  they  drove  across  the  island  of  Porto  Rico, 
by  the  famous  military  road  to  Ponce. 

A  very  amusing  thing  happened  on  the  road 
to  Ponce.  The  drive  had  taken  from  daybreak 
until  dark.  As  they  were  nearing  Ponce,  night 
had  already  fallen,  and  a  tropical  storm  was  coming 
up.  As  they  were  fording  a  shallow  river,  the 
horses  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  and 
the  Spanish  driver,  in  his  excitement,  excited  the 
horses,  with  the  result  that  the  tugs  of  the  harness 
were  broken  and  the  party  stranded  in  the  middle 
of  the  stream.  Bishop  Mills  promptly  took  off  his 
shoes,  and  jumped  from  the  carriage  into  the  river, 
to  assist.  Bishop  Bell,  a  man  of  portly  frame,  sit- 
ting in  the  same  seat,  took  his  shoes  off  to  do  the 
same,  and,  in  his  movements  in  the  narrow  confines 
of  the  carriage,  knocked  one  of  Bishop  Mills'  shoes 
into  the  river.  The  scrambling  of  those  two  large 
men  after  one  drifting  shoe,  was  most  laughable. 
Those  shoes  were  the  only  ones  Bishop  Mills  had 
with  him,  the  time  was  Saturday  night,  and  a  dedi- 
cation awaited  him  on  Sabbath  morning.  But  all 
ended  well;  the  shoe  was  recovered,  the  carriage 
was  pulled  from  the  sands,  and  the  journey  re- 
sumed. With  both  men  in  the  rear  seat  of  the 
carriage  the  space  was  too  small  to  allow  Bishop 
Bell  to  put  on  his  shoes,  and  most  of  the  way  to 
Ponce,  he  lamented  bitterly  his  inability  to  appear 
in  fitting  attire  in  the  city  that  evening. 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  November  2,  1902,  the 
Ponce  United   Brethren  church  was  dedicated  to 


92  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

Protestantism  and  to  God,  in  that  center  of  Roman 
Catholic  influence.  The  church  was  filled  with 
people,  many  Americans  being  present,  besides  a 
large  native  congregation. 

There  followed  two  weeks  filled  with  visits 
to  all  the  mission  stations  in  the  surrounding  ter- 
ritory. Bishop  Mills  was  never  satisfied,  on  a  trip 
of  inspection,  unless  he  actually  inspected  all  the 
places  where  missions  had  been  established  or 
were  contemplated.  So  it  made  little  difference 
to  him  as  to  weather  or  means  of  travel.  He  was 
there  to  see  the  work,  and  see  it  he  did,  before  he 
would  leave  for  the  homeland  to  report. 

As  he  went  from  mission  station  to  mission 
station  and  met  the  native  leaders,  he  would  say 
again  and  again,  "If  I  were  a  young  man,  I  would 
be  a  missionary." 

The  work  in  Porto  Rico  impressed  him  greatly, 
and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  it  kept  his 
deepest  interest. 

In  the  winter  of  1906  he  and  Mrs.  Mills  went 
down  to  Porto  Rico  again  and  during  that  visit 
he  inspected  all  the  work  and  the  new  mission 
stations,  and  held  the  Porto  Rico  conference. 
This  was  his  last  visit  to  the  Porto  Rico  mission 
field. 


In  The  Orient 

He  left  home  for  the  Orient  in  October,  1907, 
arriving  at  Honolulu,  October  6;  Yokohama, 
Japan,  November  17;  Shanghai,  China,  November 
26.     Then  he  proceeded  up  the  river  to  Hankow, 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  93 

and  then  to  Peking,  December  8,  and  Canton, 
December  15.  Here  he  spent  about  one  month. 
He  arrived  at  Manila,  Phihppine  Islands,  January 
14;  left  the  Philippines,  March  1,  and  arrived  in 
Tokyo,  March  18;  left  Tokyo  May  1,  1908,  and 
arrived  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  June  1,  1908. 

This  general  view  of  his  great  missionary 
journey  made  in  the  Orient  is  given  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  understand  something  of  the  dis- 
tances covered  by  this  globe  traveler.  Bishop 
Mills  always  wanted  to  share  the  trials  of  the  mis- 
sionaries' life,  and,  on  this  account  he  was  always 
seeking  to  reach  the  remote  places  and  stations, 
even  though  it  meant  hardship  and  danger  to  him. 

When  he  left  home  for  this  extended  and  last 
missionary  journey,  his  daughter  Lucile  was  very 
sick,  and  he  says  in  his  diary,  "While  I  greatly 
regret  to  leave  home,  duty  calls  and  I  obey." 
After  a  busy  time  in  San  Francisco,  attending 
receptions  and  making  a  number  of  addresses,  he 
sailed  on  the  steamship  Nippo7i,  October  30,  1907. 
He  made  a  brief  study  of  conditions  at  Honolulu, 
upon  arrival  there,  November  6.  He  criticized 
the  education  system.  He  found  that  in  the 
matter  of  immigration  into  the  island,  the  Japanese 
do  not  long  remain  laborers,  but  soon  become 
owners  and  employers,  and  storekeepers,  while 
the  Chinese  remain  laborers.  Because  the  island 
is  so  nearly  foreign  in  population,  he  deemed 
advisable  the  subsidizing  of  all  American  merchant 
marine,  as  an  aid  to  the  islands,  and  a  safeguard  to 
the  nations.  On  the  eleventh  of  November  he 
crossed  meridian  180  and  dropped  a  day.  Strange 
experience  to  lose  a  whole  day! 


94  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

On  November  17,  he  was  met  by  Dr.  A.  T. 
Howard  at  Yokohama,  and  with  him  went  by 
train  to  Tokyo,  Japan,  where  at  3:00  P.  M.  he 
preached  to  the  EngHsh-speaking  people.  He 
speaks  tenderly  of  his  fellowship  with  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Howard,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  B.  F.  Shively,  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  J.  Cosand.  He  then  sailed  for  Nagasaki 
through  the  Island  Sea.  On  this  trip  he  was  at 
Shanghai,  China,  when  he  carefully  investigated 
the  missionary  work  of  the  China  Inland  Mission. 
This  mission  had  at  that  time  over  eight  hundred 
persons  at  work  in  China,  and  these  were  sup- 
ported by  funds  received  in  answer  to  prayer.  He 
also  visited  the  representatives  of  the  Methodist 
missions,  both  northern  and  southern  branches  of 
the  church. 

On  November  26,  he  speaks  of  his  trip  up  the 
Great  River;  of  its  low  banks,  and  its  yellow  water, 
made  so  by  the  clay  through  which  it  flows.  Along 
this  river  he  saw  ruins  of  cities  destroyed  during 
the  rebellion,  and  never  rebuilt.  On  November 
28,  while  on  the  Great  River,  he  wrote:  "This  is 
Thanksgiving  Day  in  America.  May  grace,  mercy 
and  peace  be  given  to  all  our  rulers  and  to  all  our 
people;  to  all  the  nation.  Praise,  honor,  and 
thanksgiving,  majesty,  power,  and  glory  to  our 
God  for  personal  and  national  blessings  of  past 
year." 

Bishop  Mills  gives  a  very  vivid  description  of 
the  country  through  which  he  passed,  as  he  went 
up  the  river.  He  speaks  of  the  Sirens;  of  having 
passed  a  rock  in  the  river  one  hundred  feet  high, 
on  the  top  of  which  was  a  pagoda,  and  a  monastery 
on  the  east.     The  hills  and  distant  mountains  were 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  95 

covered  with  a  smoky  haze,  and  snow  could  be 
seen  on  the  mountains.  His  description  of  this 
trip  and  the  country  is  most  interesting. 

It  was  on  this  trip  that  he  met  a  young  EngHsh 
customs  officer  and  had  a  long  talk  with  him. 
"The  officer  expressed  a  lack  of  confidence  in 
Chinese  Christians  or  missionaries;  but  his  swagger 
and  swearing  were  an  easy  clew  to  his  opinions." 
The  Bishop  exhorted  him  to  act  as  a  Christian 
out  among  the  heathen. 

On  November  29,  Bishop  Mills  preached  at 
Hankow  in  the  early  morning,  and  called  on  Rev. 
Lewis  Jones  at  the  Chinese  Inland  Mission,  and 
then  proceeded  to  Hong-Kong  and  Shanghai.  After 
making  a  trip  into  the  native  city,  he  complains 
of  the  horrid  odors  ever^/ where  that  he  went,  and 
wonders  that  the  people  are  not  stricken  down  with 
an  epidemic,  because  of  the  lack  of  sanitary  con- 
ditions surrounding  them. 

On  December  1,  the  boat  started  on  the  return 
trip  down  the  river.  He  speaks  of  the  trip  as 
being  one  of  great  results  in  the  gathering  of  valu- 
able information.  The  town  of  Kiukiang  is  the 
great  center  for  the  manufacture  of  plate  dishes, 
vases,  etc.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
missions  are  located  at  this  place. 

He  reached  Shanghai  on  the  return  trip  on 
December  4.  Speaking  of  the  native  houses  along 
the  rivers,  and  other  things  seen  on  these  trips,  he 
said:  "They  are  of  clay  or  boards  with  thatch 
roofs.  Deer,  wild  hogs,  ducks,  and  geese  are 
plentitui  throughout  the  country.  The  streets 
of  the  town  have  a  different  odor  for  each  day  in 
the  year.     Everywhere  along  the  river  the  trees 


96  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

and  grass  are  very  green.  The  trees  are  low  and 
bushy  and  large  trees  are  found  away  from  the 
river."  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  a 
publishing  house  at  Shanghai.  It  was  here  that 
Bishop  Mills  met  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Bashford  of 
the  Methodist  Church.  Bishop  Mills  said  that 
everywhere  he  met  the  China  Inland  missionary 
workers  and  was  cordially  received  by  them,  and 
every  information  possible  was  given.  In  describ- 
ing the  native  city  he  says:  "Went  to-day  to  the 
native  city;  passed  the  narrow  streets  crowded 
with  people,  dirty  and  stinking  with  filth.  There 
must  be  as  many  different  stinks  as  there  are  days 
in  the  year,  but  my  sense  is  not  acute  enough  to 
distinguish  all  of  them.  Saw  the  ivory  workers 
doing  fine  work  in  the  little  shops  open  to  the 
street.  Also  other  workers  in  metals,  minerals, 
woods,  furs,  cloth  and  horn." 

He  continues:  "I  went  down  into  the  great 
Buddhist  temple,  where  the  people  were  bowing 
down  to  the  josses  or  images  of  gods  and  men; 
also  burning  sandalwood  and  incense.  Great 
crowds  present." 

It  was  at  the  Chinese  Inland  Mission  on  Sat- 
urday evening  that  Bishop  Mills  met  the  return 
missionaries  from  the  borderland  next  to  Thibet, — 
2,000  miles  away,  forty  days  from  any  railroad. 
Here  he  says:  "They  speak  of  progress.  One  of 
them  had  been  ten  days  journeying  into  Thibet 
to  visit  the  great  Buddhist  monastery.  Mr. 
Stevenson  read  letters  from  other  missionaries, 
giving  hopeful  accounts  of  the  work.  These  were 
followed  by  prayer  for  the  success  of  each  field." 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  97 

On  December  8,  he  attended  worship  in  the 
morning  at  the  Union  Church  and  gives  in  his  notes 
an  outHne  of  the  pastor's  sermon,  showing  his  care- 
ful interest  in  everything  that  he  touched  in  that 
far-away  land.  In  his  notes  of  December  9,  he 
gives  an  account  of  his  reading  which  he  had 
carried  on  during  this  trip.  He  speaks  of  having 
read  a  dozen  volumes,  giving  the  titles,  showing 
that  he  was  keeping  up  his  studious  habits  every- 
where he  went. 

On  the  tenth  of  December  he  went  on  board 
the  ship,  Mongolia,  at  9:00  A.  M.,  and  at  once 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  persons  who 
were  bound  for  the  Phihppine  Islands.  Speaking 
of  the  islands  and  their  government,  he  says: 
"Here  no  one  speaks  well  of  Secretary  Taft.  His 
policy  with  the  Philippines  is  thought  to  be  too 
easy." 

He  landed  at  Hong-Kong  December  13,  and 
was  met  by  the  Rev.  E.  I.  Doty.  In  his  description 
he  speaks  of  a  visit  to  the  hill-tops  round  about 
Hong-Kong.  In  the  evening  he  took  a  boat  for 
Canton.  On  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  he 
found  his  vessel  anchored  in  the  Pearl  River,  near 
our  mission  house  in  the  city  of  Canton.  Rev. 
B.  F.  Bean,  one  of  our  missionaries,  came  on  board 
to  greet  him.  Speaking  of  Dr.  Bigler's  work,  he 
says  that  she  is  the  busiest  and  best  and  most 
useful  one  there,  not  because  she  is  any  more 
faithful,  but  because  of  her  medical  ability  to  meet 
the  actual  needs  of  the  people.  He  speaks  of  all 
the  missionaries  as  being  earnest  and  devoted  in 
every  way,  and  that  all  are  needing  a  change  of 
cHmate.     On  Sunday  Rev.  Mr.  Lansing  preached ^ 


98  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

and  he  describes  him  as  "a  fine  old  man — the 
patriarch  of  the  mission." 

On  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  of  De- 
cember, Bishop  Mills  went  to  Hang  Tan  and  or- 
ganized a  church  of  over  thirty  members;  took  an 
offering  to  repair  the  chapel  amounting  to  $9.00; 
visited  Sheung  Ti  and  Lak  Lau,  and  then  returned 
to  Canton.  On  the  twenty-first,  twenty-second, 
and  twenty-third  he  was  at  San  Tong;  organized  a 
church  at  this  place,  returning  to  Canton  to  spend 
Christmas.  On  the  twenty-sixth  he  went  by  water 
to  Kwai  Chau,  where  the  church  was  celebrating 
Christmas,  having  a  Chinese  feast  with  nearly 
all  meats. 

He  left  the  same  evening  through  the  rain  for 
Siu  Lam.  At  this  place,  he  says,  "We  met  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  E.  B.  Ward."  Here  he  spent  three  days, 
looking  over  the  work  in  the  city  and  community, 
and  then  returned  on  the  thirtieth  of  December 
to  Canton  and  began  the  conference  session, 
which  lasted  seven  days.  Speaking  of  the  con- 
ference, he  says:  "Good  attendance  and  a  fine  body 
of  people.  Chinese  preaching  nearly  every  even- 
ing. I  preached  once  at  night  and  gave  an  ex- 
position of  Matthew  5 :7  in  the  morning.  Reports 
and  discussions  were  had  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
early  morning  prayer  meeting  was  always  held. 
Good  spirit,  throughout.  Conference  closed  on 
January  5."  The  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  of 
January  he  spent  in  an  inspection  of  work.  "The 
proposed  new  site,  near  the  Baptists',  and  four 
miles  east  of  Beth-Eden,  is  to  be  bought  if  we  can 
get  it  on  reasonable  terms,"  he  writes.  "Also,  met 
Dr.  Greene  and  others  at  the  Baptist  house,  and 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  99 

had  a  delightful  and  cordial  fellowship  with  them. 
Visited  the  Presbyterian  College;  also  the  Christian 
College.  As  this  was  the  week  of  prayer,  I 
preached  Sunday  evening.  Went  to  see  the  temple 
of  five  hundred  Genii  and  the  Chambers  of  Horror. 
It  is  surprising  how  many  things  Buddhism  and 
Romanism  hold  in  common." 

On  the  tenth  of  January,  Bishop  Mills  reached 
Hong-Kong,  and  on  the  eleventh  left  on  the  boat 
Zafiro  for  Manila,  reaching  his  destination  on  the 
fourteenth.  He  writes  as  follows:  "We  were  here 
met  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Eby,  Mr.  Myers  of  Lancaster, 
and  called  upon  Mr.  E.  F.  Durr."  He  met  many 
Americans  at  the  home  of  Rev.  H.  Farmer,  where 
he  had  his  home  during  his  stay.  Speaking  of  the 
cost  of  things  about  Manila,  he  said:  "I  had  two 
suits  of  drilling,  one  white  and  the  other  yellow, 
made  for  $7.50.  Cheap — cheapest  I  have  worn 
since  I  was  a  child,  but  they  are  cool  and  good." 
He  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mumma,  and  left  on  the 
railway  on  the  seventeenth  for  Dagupan  in  com- 
pany with  M.  E.  and  P.  E.  Lyons  and  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  M.  W.  Mumma.  On  the  eighteenth  he  was 
at  San  Fernando.  "It  is  here  that  the  superin- 
tendent of  our  missions  lives,"  he  says,  "and  they 
tendered  to  me  a  reception  at  his  house  in  the 
evening."  On  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  he 
preached,  and  in  the  evening  went  to  Barrio  for 
the  service. 

From  January  21  to  January  29  Bishop  Mills 
visited  all  the  various  local  churches  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  district  in  which  our  Church  was  work- 
ing, preaching  once  or  twice  a  day  during  the 
whole  journey.     On  February   1,   1908,  he  went 


100  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

north  with  Rev.  Mr.  Mumma  to  San  Juan,  and 
was  given  a  native  feast  and  reception.  He 
preached  on  Sunday,  February  2,  and  on  the  third 
of  February,  Rev.  Mr.  Widdoes  came  to  San  Juan, 
and  went  with  him  to  see  the  Rev.  E.  J.  Pace  at 
Balaoan.  The  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  eighth, 
and  ninth  of  February  he  spent  in  this  community, 
visiting  all  the  stations,  and  on  the  tenth  returned 
to  San  Fernando,  and  began  the  holding  of  the 
annual  conference  on  February  12.  Speaking  of 
this  conference,  he  says,  "Fine  conference;  a  hope- 
ful body,  both  natives  and  foreign."  After  closing 
conference  on  Wednesday,  he  started  over  the 
mountain.  It  was  on  this  trip  that  his  horse  broke 
through  a  bridge  and  threw  him  to  the  earth, 
causing  injury  to  his  shoulder  and  neck. 

At  Baguio  he  spent  two  days  looking  over  the 
situation  for  a  mission  rest-house,  and,  because  of 
the  good  water,  fine  air,  and  cool  place,  he  recom- 
mended it  as  a  good  location. 

He  then  came  to  Manila,  and  the  Evangelical 
Union  being  in  session  for  two  days,  he  attended 
the  sessions.  By  invitation  he  gave  a  devotional 
Bible  study  each  morning  and  preached  on  the 
first  evening,  the  twenty-fifth  of  February.  On 
the  twenty-sixth,  he  preached  at  McKinley  Post 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  at 
Cava  the  evening  of  the  twenty-seventh.  He  left 
Manila  for  Hong-Kong  on  the  steamship,  Yuen 
Sang,  arriving  there  on  the  third  of  March.  On  the 
fifth  of  March,  he  reached  Canton,  where  he  found 
all  the  missionaries  well  except  Rev.  E.  B.  Ward. 
He  records  his  being  almost  prostrated  by  over- 
work and  climatic  influences. 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  101 

On  March  6,  after  a  pleasant  day,  he  left, 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Doty,  for  Hong-Kong.  Here  he 
transacted  necessary  business  and  went  aboard  the 
steamship  Manchuria,  for  the  trip  to  Japan.  By 
request  of  the  officials  of  the  ship,  he  preached  on 
Sunday,  March  8,  at  11  A.  M.  When  the  vessel 
had  reached  a  point  just  opposite  Shanghai, 
March  10,  the  captain  died  suddenly.  This 
caused  considerable  delay  and  loss  of  time.  On 
March  12,  they  entered  the  harbor  of  Nagasaki. 
He  writes:  "It  was  a  great  sight  to  witness  the 
putting  of  four  thousand  tons  of  coal  on  the  vessel 
by  the  hands  of  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls. 
It  took  from  noon  of  the  thirteenth  until  the  next 
morning  at  seven  o'clock  to  coal  the  ship." 

He  reached  Yokohama,  Japan,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  seventeenth  of  March ;  went  ashore  with 
Dr.  A.  T.  Howard,  and  went  to  Tokyo,  spending 
from  the  eighteenth  to  the  twenty-first  visiting 
places  of  interest  in  Tokyo — Ugeno  Park,  Asakusa 
temple,  Methodist  Episcopal  book  store,  etc.  On 
the  twenty-fifth,  he  preached  at  Honjo  Church, 
and  on  the  twenty -sixth  preached  at  the  Thomp- 
son Memorial  Church.  On  the  twenty-seventh 
he  spoke  to  the  Chinese  students  at  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  preached  at  Union  Church. 

On  April  first,  he  spoke  at  Odawara;  on  the 
second,  went  to  Kanagava  to  a  Christian  Endeavor 
convention,  speaking  in  the  afternoon  and  even- 
ing. He  reached  Otsu  on  the  third  and  preached 
in  the  evening;  on  the  fourth  looked  after  lots  for 
the  mission  house,  and  lectured  before  students  in 
the  evening;  saw  jiu-jutsu  practice;  also  witnessed 


102  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

fencing,  which  is  so  much  practiced  by  the  Japa- 
nese; on  the  fifth  came  to  Kyoto;  preached  at  the 
Doshisha  in  the  morning;  laid  the  ashes  of  Rev. 
Monroe  Crecehus  in  the  cemetery  on  the  top  of 
the  mountain.  The  cemetery  is  owned  by  the 
Doshisha;  visited  the  grave  of  Neesima  and 
preached  at  the  church  in  the  evening;  on  the 
sixth  visited  the  royal  palaces  in  Kyoto;  also 
visited  the  temple  of  thirty-three  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty-one  images,  and  factories  of 
cloisonne  and  other  wares.  On  the  seventh  he 
went  to  Nara  and  saw  the  Dai  Butsu  and  the 
temples,  which,  he  says,  "are  the  greatest  I  have 
yet  seen." 

The  eighth  was  spent  at  Nagoya,  and  on  the 
ninth  he  arrived  at  Numazu.  One  of  the  in- 
teresting notations  he  makes  in  connection  with 
this  visitation  is  the  fact  that  most  of  the  nights 
he  slept  and  ate  in  native  hotels,  which,  in  itself, 
showed  his  democracy  of  spirit  and  his  willingness 
to  meet  conditions  as  they  were,  and  learn  the 
inner  life  of  the  people  of  the  country.  Bishop 
Mills  was  a  remarkable  traveler  in  this  respect, 
as  I  learned  to  know  on  my  following  of  his  visi- 
tations in  Africa. 

He  reached  Tokyo  on  the  tenth,  and  on  the 
eleventh  spoke  at  the  Sunday-School  Association 
convention.  Speaking  of  the  convention,  he  says 
the  young  man  who  preceded  him  spoke  fifty -five 
minutes,  adding,  "These  people  have  no  sense  of 
courtesy  in  sharing  time  on  a  program,  but  each 
speaks  as  long  as  he  can."  It  would  seem  as 
though  the  Japanese  had  visited  America  and 
learned  the  method  of  those  who  are  on  programs 


EPISCOPAL   VISITS  103 

here,  and  applied  the  information  gained  in  their 
own  country. 

The  twelfth,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and 
fifteenth  were  spent  in  the  examination  of  different 
stations,  the  preparation  of  articles  for  the  home 
papers,  and  in  general  visitation  of  the  work. 

On  the  sixteenth  he  went  to  Shizuoka,  where 
he  held  the  Japanese  Annual  Conference.  The 
first  evening  was  given  to  a  dinner  to  the  members 
of  the  conference.  "It  consisted  wholly  of  eels 
and  rice.  It  was  very  good,  and  tea  was  served 
at  the  close  of  the  feast."  The  conference  con- 
vened at  9:00  A.  M.  on  the  seventeenth,  and,  in 
describing  the  conference,  the  Bishop  says,  "The 
singing  was  good  and  the  prayers  fervent."  He 
at  once  entered  into  the  work  of  the  conference,  as 
is  shown  by  his  expository  preaching,  in  giving 
to  the  conference  members  a  description  of  thirty 
of  the  best  chapters  of  the  Bible  and  urging  them 
to  become  especially  acquainted  with  them.  In 
the  evening  there  were  three  sermons  in  succession 
in  Japanese,  and  the  Bishop  says,  "I  remained  at 
the  hotel."  This  statement  is  significant.  "The 
next  day  I  entered  a  protest  (mildly)  against 
having  two  or  three  sermons  at  one  session,  hoping 
that  one  would  satisfy  them  hereafter.  It  seems 
the  custom  here  to  have  two  or  more  addresses 
on  each  occasion.  After  the  stationing  committee's 
report  was  read  on  the  evening  of  the  eighteenth, 
two  sermons  were  delivered." 

Sunday  was  a  great  day  in  the  conference,  he 
says.  He  preached  at  10:00  A.  M.,  after  which 
"five  fine  young  men  were  ordained  to  the  Christian 
ministry."     This  was  followed  by  the  observance 


104  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  wine  being  served  by 
the  use  of  teaspoons.  "On  Sunday  evening, 
before  the  service,  a  feast  was  served  to  all  the 
conference  in  my  honor.  It  consisted  of  rice, 
chicken,  beef  steak  ( for  myself  and  Dr.  Howard), 
ham,  omelet,  cakes,  and  tea.  I  had  a  knife  and 
fork.  Except  at  this  meal,  I  ate  native  food  at 
the  hotel,  using  chopsticks.  Three  days  at  the 
hotel  cost  $1.50  for  meals  and  lodging."  "Thus 
closed  one  of  the  finest  conferences  that  it  was 
ever  my  privilege  to  hold." 

On  the  twentieth,  Bishop  Mills  reached  Tokyo 
and  was  at  the  home  of  Dr.  A.  T.  Howard  and 
wife,  feeling  "very  weary,"  as  he  describes  it.  On 
the  twenty-second,  he  visited  Nikko.  This  is 
the  greatest  shrine  of  the  Shinto  worship.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  twenty-third,  he  visited  the 
shrine  of  leyassu.  "This  shrine  and  his  grave 
are  the  most  important  objects.  Monkey  figures 
are  on  the  cornice  of  the  stable  before  reaching  the 
entrance  proper  to  the  shrine.  These  figures  are 
not  objects  of  worship,  but  are  symbols  of  truth 
they  wish  to  teach.  After  passing  the  gate  and  up 
two  more  flights  of  stone  steps,  we  come  to  the 
sacred  shrine.  Its  chief  ornament  is  a  metal 
mirror  and  an  altar.  Very  elaborate  ornaments 
of  carving  in  wood,  and  gorgeously  painted 
Chinese  pheasants,  the  fabled  Phoenix,  and  pictures 
of  impossible  lions.  The  carvings  are  chiefly  on 
the  outside  of  the  buildings;  the  paintings  on  the 
inside.  The  room  used  as  a  shrine  is  flanked  on 
each  side  by  a  finely  adorned  sleeping-room  for 
royalty  when  it  visits  the  temple  (for  the  shrine 
may    now   be   called   a   temple).     The   grave   of 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  105 

leyassu  is  behind  this  temple  on  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  one  hundred  steps  higher  than  the 
temple  and  wearies  one  to  reach  it.  It  is  behind 
a  small  shrine  under  a  dome  of  bronze  which  rests 
on  a  platform  of  hewn  stone. 

"The  red  lacquer  bridge  over  the  stream  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  is  crossed  only  by  royal 
persons  and  their  guests.  The  site  is  located  in 
a  place  of  great  natural  beauty.  Nature  and  art 
are  made  to  fortress  Shintoism,  and  the  stronghold 
will  require  ages  to  capture  for  our  Christ  and 
King." 

Bishop  Mills  visited  Chizenji  Lake  on  horse- 
back. On  this  trip  he  passed  beautiful  falls  along 
the  river,  passing  through  pine  groves,  yet  he  says, 
"this  lake,  which  is  of  national  fame,  is  no  finer 
than  many  of  our  little  inland  lakes." 

On  the  twenty-sixth  he  preached  at  the  union 
service  in  the  German  Reformed  Church,  where  he 
had  a  great  hearing.  Then  he  visited  the  college 
plant  of  the  North  Japan  College,  and  says  of 
it,  "Everything  is  in  fine  order,  and  good  work 
being  done."  The  balance  of  the  week  he  says  he 
spent  in  preparation  for  his  trip  home;  and  on  May 
second  sailed  on  the  Steamship  Monteagle  for 
Vancouver.  He  had  a  good  voyage.  *'Cool,  but 
not  more  than  I  had  expected.  The  shi^  rocked 
a  good  deal  and  many  were  sick,  but  I  enjoyed  the 
trip.  After  the  first  day  fog  covered  the  water. 
Often  the  fog  horn  was  blown."  He  says  he  had 
two  Fridays  the  first  week  crossing  the  one  hundred 
and  eightieth  meridian. 

He  reached  Vancouver  on  the  evening  of  the 
fifteenth  of  May  and  landed  the  next  morning. 


106  EPISCOPAL   VISITS 

On  the  eighteenth  he  started  his  trip  overland  for 
Dayton,  Ohio,  thus  ending  one  of  the  greatest 
missionary  journeys  made  in  the  interest  of  hu- 
manity by  one  of  the  greatest  lovers  of  the  race 
that  ever  entered  the  work  of  the  Master's  vine- 
yard. It  was  Bishop  Mills'  last  journey,  and  is 
referred  to  by  those  who  were  touched  on  the 
journey  as  being  one  of  great  inspiration  to  the 
workers.  Unselfish  and  devoted,  he  spared  neither 
effort  nor  time  to  make  the  journey  one  of  absolute 
encouragement  and  inspiration  to  all  who  were 
on  the  field.  Bishop  Mills  was  a  world  man  and 
in  sympathy  with  world  movements,  and,  as  such, 
spared  not  himself  as  he  joined  the  workers  in  the 
field,  leaving  them  to  greater  devotion  and  con- 
secration in  the  service  that  they  were  rendering 
to  the  King.  There  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  this 
journey,  strenuous  and  severe  in  its  physical 
exertion,  hastened  the  closing  of  the  earthly 
journey  of  Bishop  Mills. 


BISHOP  MILLS  AS  A  FATHER 

TO  MISSIONARIES 
By  Bishop  A.  T.  Howard,  D.D. 

Superintendent  of  the  Orient 

No  book  on  the  life  of  Bishop  Mills  could  be 
quite  complete  without  a  tribute  to  his  devoted 
life  from  the  young  people  who  represented  our 
Church  in  the  Far  East  in  the  years  of  1907-08, 
when  Bishop  Mills  visited  our  missions  in  the 
Orient.  He  was  so  broad  in  his  views  of  what 
goals  the  missions  should  place  before  themselves, 
so  interested  in  the  life  and  all  the  achievements  of 
the  peoples  of  the  east,  so  appreciative  of  all  that 


EPISCOPAL  VISITS  107 

was  best  among  them,  so  hopeful  of  their  future. 
He  made  us  missionaries  feel,  too,  that  he  trusted 
us;  yet,  by  his  own  wide  reading  and  familiarity 
with  such  a  great  variety  of  books,  and  with  the 
greater  book  of  nature,  he  made  us  keenly  con- 
scious of  our  own  limitations. 

He  was  eager  to  learn  lessons  himself  from  the 
people  about  him.  One  day,  on  a  crowded  train, 
when  a  selfish  Japanese  passenger  was  allowed  to 
sleep  and  monopolize  a  comfortable  seat  for  hours, 
while  others  made  themselves  uncomfortable  rather 
than  disturb  the  sleeper,  Bishop  Mills  said,  "I 
believe  if  I  were  to  live  in  this  country  long,  I 
would  become  gentle,  too.  I  am  tempted  to  take 
hold  of  that  fellow  and  roll  him  off  in  the  aisle,  but 
these  polite  Orientals  allow  him  to  sleep  on." 

One  day,  in  speaking  of  the  quality  of  gentle- 
ness, he  said  he  thought  the  most  suitable  monu- 
ment for  his  grave  would  be  a  rough  boulder  out 
of  the  mountains,  without  other  mark  of  the  chisel 
upon  it  than  the  word  "Mills,"  and  the  appropriate 
dates. 

His  ambition,  too,  inspired  us.  There  was  no 
satisfaction  over  past  achievements  with  him.  He 
wished  to  be  free  from  the  burden  and  distraction 
of  travel  that  he  might  write  three  books — one  on 
duty,  one  on  doctrine,  and  one  on  devotions. 

He  frankly  told  us  he  would  never  cross  the  sea 
again,  but  he  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity  on 
that  visit,  for  he  never  hesitated  to  carry  out  the 
program  outhned  for  him,  but  would  go  anywhere, 
make  any  sort  of  an  address,  eat  any  kind  of  food, 
sleep  anywhere  without  complaint,  and  frequently 


108  EPISCOPAL  VISITS 

would  suggest  additional  meetings  that  naturally 
were  of  burden  to  him. 

The  writer  knows  now  that  Bishop  Mills' 
great  strength  of  body  had  begun  to  fail  before  he 
began  his  tour  in  Japan;  but  there  was  no  flagging, 
no  quitting  the  field  until  he  could  make  a  full 
report  on  every  phase  of  the  work  of  the  Church. 

He  was  a  charming  guest  to  have  in  one's 
home,  one  who  could  take  the  place  of  a  grandfather 
in  the  hearts  of  all  our  mission  children  while 
satisfying  their  natural  desire  to  meet  a  great  man 
from  America,  the  land  of  their  dreams.  He 
preached  some  great  sermons,  sermons  that  were 
eloquent  and  profound,  but  his  chief  emphasis  was 
expository  preaching. 

We  cannot  say  what  his  life  meant  to  others 
in  other  lands,  but  to  us  who  knew  him  in  the 
intimacy  of  our  own  homes  in  the  East,  he  will 
be  remembered  as  a  friend,  a  father,  and  wide 
indefatigable  student,  a  servant  of  the  Church 
devoted  to  duty,  and  a  man  who  delighted  to  in- 
terpret the  Word^of  God. 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 


Chapter  VI. 

STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  AND  EDUCATOR 

kUCH  has  been  said  in  reference  to 
the  self-made  man,  or  the  man  who 
has  accomphshed,  through  his  own 
personal  efforts,  supplemented  by 
whatever  help  he  could  obtain,  the 
complete  development  of  his  mental 
powers,  in  distinction  from  the  man  who  has,  by 
earnest  application,  followed  a  full  college  curric- 
ulum and  obtained  a  diploma.  Bishop  Mills  did 
not  have  the  privilege  of  a  college  education  as 
such,  but  he  was,  nevertheless,  a  scholar — a 
scholar  of  peculiar  ability;  one  whose  deductions 
were  as  well  founded  on  the  facts  of  logic,  philos- 
ophy, history,  science,  and  language  as  the  able 
scholars  of  the  day  who  had  pursued  a  full  col- 
lege course. 

As  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  the  early 
life  of  Bishop  Mills  was  not  promising,  due  to  his 
physical  condition.  No  one  would  have  thought, 
when  the  lad  was  ten  years  of  age,  that  he  would 
master  nearly  all  departments  of  learning*  and 
shine  among  scholars  as  authority  on  many 
branches  of  research.  He  came  into  his  own  very 
slowly.  His  father,  being  a  farmer  with  limited 
means,  was  not  able  to  send  his  son  away  to  college, 
even  after  he  had  outgrown  his  physical  weakness 


112   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

and  had  shown  extraordinary  abiHty  as  a  student. 
There  are  few  young  men  who  would  have  under- 
taken what  Mr.  Mills  did  as  a  farmer  lad.  His 
application  of  mind  in  the  days  of  his  young  man- 
hood was  remarkable.  Shrouded  as  his  early  life 
was  with  poor  health,  no  one  who  knew  him 
entertained  a  thought  of  the  possibilities  that  were 
achieved  by  him  in  the  sixty-one  years  that  he 
lived,  much  of  this  time  having  been  spent  in 
fighting  the  inroads  of  disease  on  a  weak  con- 
stitution. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  a  divine  impulse  filled 
his  life,  causing  an  insatiable  desire  for  knowledge; 
while  it  was  true  that  he  had  not  learned  to  read 
until  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  yet,  in  a  few  years 
he  had  not  only  recovered  the  lost  time,  but  had 
forged  to  the  front  among  his  associates  as  a 
student  and  thinker.  He  soon  mastered  every- 
thing that  was  taught  in  the  primary  schools  of 
his  community,  and,  having  earned  a  little  money, 
entered  Bartlett  Academy,  near  his  old  home.  It 
was  here  that  he  showed  himself  to  be  an  extraor- 
dinary student,  attracting  the  attention  of  all  of 
his  teachers  because  of  his  ability  to  think,  a  trait 
of  character  that  has  marked  his  entire  life. 

Going  home  from  the  academy,  he  engaged  to 
help  his  father  in  the  work  of  the  farm.  While 
in  the  fields,  he  carried  his  Greek  Testament,  and, 
when  the  horses  were  resting,  he  worked  with  un- 
abated energy  on  his  lessons  in  Greek  roots.  Never 
once  did  Bishop  Mills  refer  to  his  own  ability.  No 
one  has  ever  heard  him  sound  such  a  note  of 
egotism.  Hence,  few  people  knew  that  he  was 
able    to    read   the   sacred    Word   in   the   original 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR    113 

language,  for  he  had  not  taken  a  course  in  the 
Greek  or  the  Hebrew  language,  in  any  college. 
True,  he  was  enrolled  as  a  student  of  Otterbein 
University  for  three  years;  as  a  student  of  the 
Ilhnois  Wesleyan  University  for  four  years,  and 
in  his  examination  received  the  degrees  of  bachelor 
of  philosophy,  master  of  arts,  and  doctor  of  philoso- 
phy. To  these  he  added  a  course  of  three  years  in 
the  Chautauqua  University  of  Theology,  doing 
all  this  extra  work  while  he  was  busy  as  a  pastor, 
and  in  no  way  interfering  with  the  service  he  was 
rendering  to  his  congregation. 

It  was  in  his  years  between  fourteen  and  eight- 
een that  he  did  the  good  primary  work  that  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  splendid  concentration  of 
mind  that  is  seen  in  his  untiring  efforts  to  obtain 
better  preparation  for  his  work  as  he  followed  the 
different  courses  of  study.  After  completing  the 
courses  as  indicated  in  the  schools  named  above, 
Bishop  Mills  outlined  for  himself  carefully  thought- 
out  courses  of  study  in  philosophy,  sociology, 
phrenology.  Christian  evidences,  and  literature, 
which  he  conscientiously  pursued.  Later,  he  be- 
came a  professor  of  English  literature  and  philoso- 
phy in  one  of  our  colleges,  in  which  position  he 
not  only  made  good,  but  excelled — a  striking 
evidence  of  the  success  of  his  work  as  a  student. 

But  Bishop  Mills  was  peculiar,  in  that  from 
the  beginning  of  his  effort  to  acquire  knowledge, 
until  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was  a  thinker  and  a 
close  critical  student,  carefully  analyzing  every 
line  of  thought  that  came  under  his  notice.  It  is 
worthy  of  mention  that  the  first  thing  this  re- 
markable man  did  was  to  learn  to  control  his  own 


114   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

mind ;  and  it  is  believed  by  many  that  his  course  in 
science  in  Professor  Fowler's  school  in  New  York, 
taken  in  the  year  1872-73,  laid  the  foundation  for 
his  success  in  subsequent  years.  He  was  heard  to 
say,  on  one  occasion,  that  he  believed  the  man 
who  controlled  his  mind  and  could  command  it  as 
nearly  perfectly  as  possible,  increased  his  own 
power  in  proportion  to  this  ability.  His  great 
address  on  will  power  is,  without  doubt,  the  out- 
growth of  this  conception,  for,  if  any  one  will 
study  the  outline  of  that  marvelous  address, 
analytic  in  every  particular,  he  will  see  at  once  the 
force  of  this  statement  in  relation  to  his  own 
intellectual  activities. 

He  was  not  only  a  great  student  and  scholar, 
but  also  a  great  reader.  The  Church  has  pro- 
duced few  men  who  were  universal  readers  such 
as  was  Mr.  Mills.  His  field  of  inquiry  was  not 
limited  to  any  one  side  of  the  question.  It  was 
not  uncommon  to  find  him  with  the  book  of  a 
skeptical  author  in  his  hand,  analyzing,  criticizing, 
and  mentally  digesting  all  that  was  being  said  on 
the  subject  in  hand.  He  mastered  a  number  of 
languages  to  the  point  of  being  able  to  read  intel- 
hgently — German,  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish — 
in  order  that  he  might  investigate  subjects  where 
the  authorship  was  principally  in  these  languages. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  go  into  his  library  and  ex- 
amine a  number  of  the  books  in  the  different  lan- 
guages. When  he  made  his  trips  abroad,  he  was 
in  a  position  to  make  himself  understood  very  in- 
telligently in  many  of  the  different  countries  in 
which  he  traveled.  All  this  was  due  to  his  ability 
to   concentrate  his  mind  and  do  in   a  very  short 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR    115 

time  what  it  requires  many  students  years  to  ac- 
complish in  the  mastering  of  languages. 

Of  course,  it  must  be  remembered  in  this 
connection  that  he  was  aided  by  a  wonderful 
memory.  Bishop  Mills  believed  that  the  memory 
could  be  cultivated.  Hence,  in  his  childhood,  he 
was  often  found  in  the  throes  of  memory  gymnas- 
tics, causing  his  powers  of  retention  to  be  so  devel- 
oped that  he  seldom  forgot  anything.  Indeed,  he 
did  not  seem  to  have  a  "forgetter,"  and  if,  by 
chance,  there  came  a  lapse  of  memory,  he,  above 
all  others,  was  most  annoyed  by  it.  Even  when 
he  was  bearing  the  responsibility  of  many  cares, 
it  was  remarkable  how  he  could  retain  details  and 
give  account  of  minute  matters  that  would  have 
been  over-shadowed  in  the  memory  of  most  per- 
sons. 

With  an  ascending  vision,  with  a  compre- 
hensive ambition  tempered  by  divine  grace,  he 
pressed  forward,  as  few  men  do,  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  purpose;  that  purpose  was  to  know, 
and,  knowing,  to  live  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  betterment  of  humanity.  The  extraordinary 
strength  of  his  will  kept  him  steady  in  all  of  his 
work  as  a  student  and  scholar,  for  he  never  left 
home  without  carrying  with  him  some  book  or 
books  bearing  upon  a  definite  line  of  investigation 
which  concerned  society,  state,  or  church.  He 
was  not  a  reader  of  fiction  as  such.  He  absolutely 
ignored  the  popular  novels  of  the  day  and  fed  his 
mind  on  stronger  meat;  thus  developing  a  master- 
ful disposition,  until  it  became  a  habit  for  him  to 
know  the  historic  and  philosophical  settings  of 
every  department  of  human  activity. 


116   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

Strange  to  say,  he  studied  natural  science  with 
the  same  avidity  that  he  did  the  philosophical  and 
metaphysical  departments  of  human  thought.  He 
was  especially  interested  in  botany.  This  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that,  when  he  established  his  home  at 
Annville,  he  at  once  undertook  to  lay  out  a  plan 
for  a  botanical  garden,  supplying  it  with  such 
plants  as  would  flourish  in  that  climate.  It  is 
remarkable  what  he  knew  about  trees,  both  ornate 
and  fruit,  and  his  knowledge  of  botany  enabled 
him  to  have  a  fine  flower-garden,  with  the  richest 
varieties  of  roses,  and  flowering  plants  of  rare 
beauty  and  selection.  It  is  also  notable  that, 
although  especially  interested  in  other  lines  of 
thought,  he  could  give  the  botanical  names  of  all 
the  plants  that  were  found  about  his  place,  as 
though  they  were  common,  every  day  friends. 

As  a  student  and  scholar,  therefore,  his  vision 
seemed  to  be  comprehensive;  so  rounded  out  was 
his  information,  that  he  is  easily  classed  as  a  man 
of  liberal  education. 

Added  to  all  these  elements  of  scholarship  was 
his  fertile  imagination.  Few  men  had  such  native 
ability  in  this  particular  as  Bishop  Mills.  It  led 
him  into  the  field  of  investigation;  it  was  the  key 
to  unlock  many  of  the  treasure-houses  of  knowl- 
edge. It  was  interesting  to  hear  him  discuss  the 
possibilities  of  the  flying-machine.  His  unbounded 
faith  was  born  of  an  imagination,  the  vision  of 
which  may  extend  into  the  centuries.  He  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  belief  that  in  time  to  come 
the  human  family  would  pass  from  one  continent 
to  another  by  aid  of  this  new  invention,  perfected 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  guarantee  greater  safety 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR    117 

than  the  best  ocean  hner  that  now  plows  the 
waves  between  the  western  and  eastern  hemis- 
pheres. 

Bishop  Mills  only  had  begun  his  work  as  an 
author.  He  had  in  almost  complete  form  the 
outline  of  many  manuscripts  which  he  intended  to 
finish  in  subsequent  years.  He  wrote  the  following 
books  which  have  been  published:  "Africa," 
"Hohness,"  "Missionary  Enterprise,"  and  "Family 
Worship." 

His  scholarly  attainments  are  set  forth  in  the 
following  degrees  that  were  conferred  upon  him: 
Master  of  arts  from  Otterbein  University  in  1884; 
doctor  of  divinity  from  Lebanon  Valley  and  West- 
field  Colleges  in  1890;  doctor  of  laws  from  Lane 
University  in  1898;  doctor  of  philosophy  from  the 
Wesleyan  University,  Illinois. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Christian  Philosophy,  the  American  Academy 
of  Political  and  Social  Science,  and  a  corresponding 
member  of  the  Iowa  Academy  of  Science. 

As  teacher,  he  began  work  in  Western  College, 
now  Leander  Clark  College,  located  at  Toledo, 
Iowa,  in  the  year  1887.  He  was  invited  to  the 
professorship  of  English  by  President  Beardshear, 
who  was  known  as  the  strongest  educator  at  that 
time  in  our  denomination.  The  wisdom  of  his 
selection  for  this  position  was  evident  through  the 
two  years  that  he  occupied  the  chair  of  English 
literature  and  rhetoric  in  the  college,  for  Mr.  Mills 
showed  complete  mastery  of  his  subject,  and  the 
students  recognized  his  great  strength,  as,  from 
time  to  time,  he  led  them  along  these  important 
lines  of  study  and  development. 


118   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

When  President  Beardshear  resigned  the  pres- 
idency in  1889,  Mr.  Mills  was  elected  president 
and  professor  of  philosophy,  which  position  he 
held  for  three  years,  during  which  time  the  college 
made  positive  achievement  and  growth.  Upon 
an  examination  of  the  catalogues  of  the  school, 
issued  for  this  period,  we  find  an  enrollment  of 
above  four  hundred  students  each  year,  and  a 
faculty  composed  of  eight  professors  and  four 
teachers,  and  quite  a  number  of  lecturers. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  remarkable 
development  of  this  man  from  his  humble  begin- 
ning in  educational  lines,  not  being  able  to  read  or 
write  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  then  coming  to  the 
position  of  a  college  professor  of  English  at  the  age 
of  thirty-nine,  and  college  president  at  the  age  of 
forty-two.  The  fact  that  he  was  not  a  graduate  in 
any  college  did  not  seem  to  interfere  with  his 
work  as  teacher  or  president,  for  his  ability  was 
recognized  on  every  hand,  and  his  scholarship 
was  never  questioned. 

Mr.  Mills  was  successor  to  Professor  A.  L. 
DeLong,  the  first  distinct  professor  of  English 
literature  and  rhetoric  in  Leander  College.  Pro- 
fessor Ward,  in  his  History  of  Western-Leander 
Clark  College,  says  of  this  appointment  by  Presi- 
dent Beardshear,  "Professor  Mills  brought  logical 
scholarship,  much  Church  prestige,  and  great 
personal  dignity,  qualities  that  gave  him  the 
presidency  of  the  college  upon  the  retirement  of 
President  Beardshear."  During  the  period  of 
1893  and  1894  there  was  what  is  called,  in  the 
history  of  Leander  Clark,  the  third  crucial  period 
in  the  life  of  the  college.     This  period  is  known  as 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR   119 

that  of  the  burning  of  the  main  building  and  the 
burden  of  rebuilding  same,  the  outcome  of  which 
was  the  growing  financial  embarrassment.  Pro- 
fessor Ward,  in  writing  of  this  period,  says: 
"Such,  then,  was  the  situation  when  President 
Beardshear  laid  down  the  mantle  of  the  presi- 
dency and  Professor  J.  S.  Mills  was  chosen  to 
succeed  to  the  burdens  of  that  office.  President 
Mills  accepted  the  position  believing  that  the  col- 
lege authorities  understood  th-e  great  responsibili- 
ties that  they  were  laying  upon  him,  and  assured 
by  the  board  in  strongest  terms  that  the  warmest 
sympathy  and  the  heartiest  support  were  back  of 
him  in  his  great  undertaking.  The  new  adminis- 
tration started  out  hopefully,  only  to  be  over- 
taken in  a  few  short  months  by  a  calamity  that 
tried  the  souls  of  all  the  friends  of  the  college 
and  almost  crushed  President  Mills — the  calamity 
of  ^a  disastrous  fire." 

This  calamity  occurred  on  the  night  of  De- 
cember 25,  and,  by  the  morning  hours,  the  magnifi- 
cent college  building  was  entirely  destroj'^ed.  This 
building  had  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars,  and,  with  its  burning,  many 
gave  up  the  hope  of  the  maintenance  of  Western 
College  as  then  known.  Professor  Ward,  writing 
of  it,  says:  "The  dawn  of  Thursday  presented  an 
appalling  spectacle  to  the  eye.  There  were  the 
bare  walls,  smoking  and  smouldering,  the  only 
monument  left  to  tell  where  a  few  short  hours 
before  one  of  the  finest  college  buildings  in  Iowa 
had  stood.  A  few  scattering  pieces  of  furniture, 
books,  papers,  etc.,  lay  strewn  about  the  premises — 
all  that  was  saved  of  the  extensive  outfit  of  West- 


120   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

ern  College.  The  Thompson  Cabinet,  presented 
by  Mrs.  Charles  Mason,  and  considered  the  finest 
in  the  State,  had  vanished,  alas,  in  a  few  brief 
moments,  in  smoke.  The  value  of  this  cabinet 
alone  is  estimated  at  $50,000.  The  mammoth 
library,  the  pride  of  the  college,  was  gone  with  the 
remainder  of  the  equipments.  The  loss  is  esti- 
mated at  from  $125,000  to  $150,000,  with  an 
insurance  of  $22,000  on  the  same.  The  wreck 
seemed  complete,  and  the  question  arose.  Can  we 
rebuild?" 

President  Mills  was  in  the  East  on  the  night 
of  the  fire;  was  arranging  for  help  to  come  to  the 
institution  when  the  message,  announcing  the 
burning  of  the  building,  reached  him  in  the  Union 
Station,  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  He  quickly  arranged 
his  matters  and  rushed  back  to  Western  to  join 
the  executive  committee  in  their  heroic  effort  to 
restore  the  building;  for  no  time  was  lost  in  bring- 
ing about  the  reorganization  of  the  forces  with  a 
view  to  building.  This  brought  to  him  an  extra 
burden  of  toil  and  effort,  and,  as  he  was  already 
weighted  with  the  responsibilities  that  were  upon 
him,  it  was  a  question  of  his  endurance  and  strength 
to  meet  the  emergency.  But,  with  a  determination 
that  knew  no  defeat,  he  entered  into  the  project 
of  restoring  the  building.  Within  eighteen  months 
from  the  time  the  building  was  burned,  it  was 
replaced  by  a  better,  stronger,  and  more  com- 
pletely-equipped  building  than  the  old  structure. 

Quoting  again  from  the  History  of  Leander 
Clark  College:  "President  Mills  was  relieved  from 
class  work  for  a  time  that  he  might  aid  in  the 
canvass  for  funds.     *  *  *  *   President  Mills  soon 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR   121 

returned  from  field  work  to  the  more  congenial 
duties  of  the  classroom.  His  office  gave  him  the 
chair  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  a  field  for 
which  he  was  peculiarly  well  fitted  both  by  training 
and  by  temperament.  He  was  a  born  logician  and 
thinker,  and  had  disciplined  himself  by  profound 
study  of  philosophical  subjects.  His  magnificent 
personal  appearance,  his  dignified  bearing,  and 
judicial  utterance  gave  his  opinions  great  weight, 
though  he  often  failed  to  reach  down  where  the 
students  daily  lived,  and  to  realize  with  quick 
human  sympathy  the  student's  matter-of-fact 
problems  and  daily  needs.  He  won  the  highest 
esteem  and  admiration  of  his  pupils,  but  did  not 
quite  enlist  their  spontaneous  love  and  adoration. 
President  Mills  recoiled  from  the  material  prob- 
lems and  endless  perplexities  inseparably  connected 
with  the  presidency,  and  so  resigned  that  office 
after  three  years  and  gave  himself  wholly  to  class- 
room work  for  one  year,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  was  elected  Bishop  by  the  General  Conference 
of  his  Church.  An  exalted  office  in  which  he  soon 
took  eminent  rank,  and  in  which  he  continued 
until  his  death,  September  16,  1909." 

President  Mills  was  succeeded  as  president  of 
the  college  by  Professor  A.  M.  Beal,  who  occupied 
the  presidency  for  one  year. 

Dr.  Thompson,  in  "Our  Bishops,"  referring 
to  the  time  of  the  burning  of  the  building,  says: 
"When  this  happened,  he  was  on  a  visit  to  Ohio. 
I  was  talking  with  him  in  the  depot  in  Columbus 
when  the  telegram  reached  him  announcing  the 
great  disaster.  At  once  the  resolution  was  formed 
that  he  must  go  back  and  rebuild.     It  meant  an 


122   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

extra  burden  of  toil  and  anxiety  to  a  man  already 
weighted  down  with  care,  but  he  went  to  work 
with  intense  energy  and  a  prayerful  heart,  and  the 
people  responded.  The  building  was  restored 
and  finished  from  top  to  bottom  in  eighteen 
months.  This  was  done  and  the  faculty  paid 
without  any  increase  of  liabilities  except  a  part  of 
the  interest  on  the  previous  debt." 

Thus  closed  a  strong  administration  of  the 
college  under  the  work  of  Mr.  Mills  as  college 
president. 

In  order  that  the  Church  may  understand 
Bishop  Mills'  real  position  on  the  question  of 
education,  I  quote  the  paragraph  from  the  Bishop's 
address  read  at  the  beginning  of  the  General 
Conference  at  Canton,  in  1909,  on  the  subject, 
"Education." 

"Our  people  share  in  the  educational  spirit 
of  the  land.  Our  schools  have  all  made  commend- 
able progress,  but  some  have  excelled.  Each 
school  is  the  favorite  project  of  our  Church  in  the 
region  where  it  exists.  The  growth  of  the  interest 
of  our  people  in  education  is  attested  by  the  in- 
creased attendance  in  all  our  schools  and  the  en- 
larged contributions  to  the  support  of  the  same. 

"The  Church  has  always  stood  for  scholar- 
ship. From  the  days  when  the  apostles  had  Mark 
for  a  minister  of  the  word,  it  has  held  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  training  its  youth.  There  are  few  insti- 
tutions of  learning  in  America  which  do  not  owe 
their  foundation  to  the  need  of  an  educated  minis- 
try. Within  later  years,  it  is  true,  provision  for 
the  education  of  the  young  men  and  women  has 
been  made  by  large  appropriations  by  both  Fed- 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR    123 

eral  and  State  Governments;  but  even  in  such 
institutions  the  great  body  of  instructors  are  at 
least  nominally  connected  with  some  church. 
Universities  no  longer  care  primarily  for  the 
training  of  ministers,  and  seldom  maintain  theo- 
logical departments,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  initial  impulse  which 
was  given  collegiate  education  by  the  demands  of 
religious  bodies. 

"The  church  of  to-day  is  living  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  extraordinary  transition  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  The  church  cannot  maintain  itself 
in  this  age  and  stand  aloof  from  the  movements 
in  education.  It  can  meet  cultured  skepticism 
only  by  the  culture  and  experience  of  believers. 
While  the  church  places  a  high  estimate  upon 
knowledge  and  culture,  it  still  more  highly  prizes 
character.  It  therefore  demands  as  high  a  type 
of  character  in  its  teachers  as  in  its  ministers. 
Thus,  by  both  training  and  example,  it  carries 
forward  its  educational  work. 

"The  choice  sons  and  daughters  of  our 
churches  are  in  our  college  halls,  or  have  already 
gone  forth  from  them.  We  owe  it  to  them  and  to 
the  great  nation  of  which  we  are  a  part,  to  bring 
our  schools  up  to  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency 
possible.  We  do  not  need  more  schools,  but  the 
thorough  manning  and  equipping  of  those  we  have 
is  the  imperative  demand  of  the  hour." 

These  words  are  worthy  of  careful  consider- 
ation at  the  present  time  as  we  study  the  edu- 
cational problems  that  are  before  us  as  a  denomi- 
nation. 


124   STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

Bishop  Mills  had  decided  to  move  to  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  after  he  was  sent  to  the  East 
District  in  1901,  but  strong  pressure  was  brought 
to  bear  on  him,  to  have  him  move  to  Annville, 
Pennsylvania,  where  Lebanon  Valley  College,  the 
only  United  Brethren  college  in  the  East,  was 
located.  So  he,  on  that  account,  decided  to  move 
there. 

After  settling  in  Annville,  he  and  his  family 
took  a  very  deep  interest  in  the  college,  and 
became  active  in  every  department  of  its  work. 
Three  of  his  children  graduated  from  the  college, 
his  son,  in  the  class  of  1904,  his  daughter  Ellen, 
in  the  class  of  1905,  and  his  daughter  Lucile,  in  the 
conservatory  of  music  class  of  1906. 

Bishop  Mills  himself  became  a  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  and  remained 
on  the  board  for  some  years,  a  most  devoted, 
enthusiastic,  hopeful  friend  of  high  education  and 
honest  administration.  His  wise  counsel  and 
unfaltering  adherence  to  the  policy  of  conservative 
administration  helped  the  college  over  some  of 
the  roughest  days  of  its  history. 

During  the  last  two  years  of  his  life,  he  was  in 
very  close  touch  with  the  affairs  of  the  college 
constantly,  and  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  him  to 
have  Doctor  Bierman,  the  college  treasurer,  come 
in  and  discuss  with  him  its  needs  and  the  hopes 
for  its  betterment.  He  was  especially  anxious 
for  an  adequate  endowment,  not  only  for  Lebanon 
Valley,  but  for  all  of  the  Church  schools. 

He,  and  his  brother-in-law.  Dr.  Lawrence 
Keister,  who  was  then  president  of  Lebanon 
Valley,  would  talk  and  plan  by  the  hour  for  the 


STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR    125 

betterment  of  the  college,  and  for  a  better  response 
from  its  constituency.  He  recognized  that  the 
United  Brethren  Church  had  not  come  to  recognize 
the  value  of  education  to  the  Church.  He  himself 
recognized  that  if  any  church  moves  constantly 
on  in  a  direct  line  of  advance,  it  must  have  efficient 
leaders,  and  he  further  recognized  the  fact  that 
our  leaders  come  largely,  or  almost  altogether 
from  our  own  communion,  and  that  to  prepare 
our  future  leaders,  we  must  educate  our  young 
people  to  the  point  of  highest  efficiency  for  them- 
selves, the  denomination,  and  for  God.  So  he 
constantly  advocated,  as  a  college  president,  as 
a  member  of  the  Church  board  of  education,  and 
as  a  Bishop,  the  need  of  awakening  to  the  value 
of  education,  and  then  providing  means  to  satisfy 
that  need. 

He  liked  to  discuss  all  subjects,  and  questions 
relating  to  every  phase  of  the  educational  and 
administrative  side  of  our  schools,  and  the  coming 
of  Doctor  Bierman  or  Doctor  Keister  was  always 
most  welcome. 

The  sudden  death  of  Doctor  Bierman,  in 
August,  1909,  was  a  shock  to  Bishop  Mills,  but 
it  never  occurred  to  him  that  in  less  than  a  month, 
he  would  follow  Doctor  Bierman. 

While  Bishop  Mills  had  never  been  able  to 
accumulate  much  money,  because  of  his  great 
liberality,  and  the  large  demands  upon  him  for  all 
kinds  of  Christian  work,  he  showed  his  interest 
in  education,  and  in  Lebanon  Valley  College,  by 
leaving  the  college  one  thousand  dollars,  the  in- 
come from  which  was  to  go  to  some  poor  boy 
each  year  to  help  him  in  securing  a  college  edu- 


126  STUDENT,  SCHOLAR,  EDUCATOR 

cation;  and,  preferably,  a  boy  who  was  studying 
for  the  Christian  ministry.  He  said  that  one 
of  the  best  memorials  a  man  could  leave,  with  his 
material  possessions,  was  a  fund  put  in  such  a  way 
that  it  would  benefit  not  only  the  boy  who  was 
helped  to  an  education,  but  also  all  those  who 
would  come  under  the  influence  of  such  a  boy's 
later  ministry. 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP,  OR 
THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADER 


Chapter  VII 

THE  CHURCHMAN  AND   BISHOP,  OR 
THE   ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADER. 

BISHOP  of  another  denomination 
said,  in  speaking  of  Bishop  Mills, 
"He  was  the  greatest  churchman 
I  have  ever  known."  There  was 
a  dignity  and  strength  about  him 
that  few  men  possess,  and  the  ele- 
ments that  entered  into  his  leadership  were  so 
striking  and  splendid  as  to  merit  mention  in  the 
history  of  his  life. 

As  a  churchman,  he  was  always  true  and 
genuine.  That  he  was  mistaken  sometimes  in 
his  judgment,  both  as  to  men  and  to  policies,  is 
certainly  true;  but  even  when  he  was  mistaken, 
either  as  to  the  man  he  supported  or  the  policy  he 
advanced,  no  one  could  doubt  his  unselfishness 
in  the  case;  and  while  he  sometimes  has  stood 
for  men  who  were  unworthy  of  his  support,  yet 
it  must  be  remembered  that,  in  every  case  of  this 
kind.  Bishop  Mills  believed  in  the  man  he  support- 
ed with  an  earnestness  and  sincerity  born  of  a 
true  heart.  Never  once  did  he  seek  the  advance- 
ment of  another  individual  in  order  that  he  him- 
self might  be  advanced;  and  it  is  known  to  many 
that  he  suffered  personally  by  his  faithful  devotion 
to  individuals  in  whom  he  believed,  and  who  were 
his  personal  friends,  and  for  whom  he  stood  under 
all  circumstances.     This  characteristic  of  the  man 


130    THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP 

was  manifested  not  only  in  his  relation  to  his 
personal  friends  and  policies,  but  also  was  true  in 
reference  to  all  men  and  all  policies  that  affected 
the  denominational  life  of  the  Church.  His  plan- 
ning was  always  unselfish.  Never  once  did  he 
institute  a  program,  the  sequel  of  which  was  to  be 
his  own  advancement.  This  statement  is  only 
fair  to  make  in  the  life  of  any  man  where  it  can 
be  made  with  such  absolute  truth. 

No  one  can  doubt  his  position  on  the  great 
policies  of  the  Church  affecting  its  future,  who 
recalls  his  uncompromising  stand  in  favor  of  a  new 
order  of  things  as  carried  out  by  the  Church 
Commission,  when  the  Constitution  and  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Disciplinary  enactments  were 
revised  and  made  up  to  date,  as  relating  to  all 
Christian  activity  in  this  new  century.  Bishop 
Mills  was  never  a  conservative  or  middle-of-the- 
road  man;  he  was  always  on  the  constructive, 
progressive  side  of  every  question  that  touched  his 
life.  Hence,  he  was  considered  by  some  as  being 
so  progressive  that  he  was  unsafe.  Indeed,  some 
called  him  visionary  and  others  were  inclined  to 
say  of  him  that  he  was  seeking  these  things  for 
his  own  advancement  and  preferment.  However, 
those  who  were  near  him — those  who  understood 
him — quickly  refuted  this  charge  as  unfair  to  him 
as  a  Church  leader. 

After  the  reconstructive  period,  in  1889,  when 
our  Church  broke  the  fetters  that  bound  it,  and 
entered  into  a  new  life,  when  the  General  Con- 
ference, at  York,  approved  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mission, Bishop  Mills  threw  all  his  energy  into 
the  work  of  the  denomination,  and,  from  that  time 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP     131 

forward,  became  one  of  the  aggressive  leaders  in 
the  progressive  measures  and  was  always  found 
standing  with  those  who  were  seeking  to  build 
up  the  Church. 

As  was  said  of  him  as  a  teacher,  so  it  can  be 
said  of  him  as  a  bishop,  that  the  weight  of  his 
influence  was  always  found  on  the  side  of  those 
who  were  seeking  to  lay  foundations  upon  which 
to  build  a  greater  structure  in  the  years  to  come. 
To  this  end  he  was  the  friend  of  young  men.  One 
of  the  principal  elements  in  his  work  was  to  inspire 
young  men,  and  thereby  to  multiply  his  own  life 
by  injecting  into  the  lives  of  others,  as  he  met 
them  in  the  conferences  and  in  the  homes,  his  own 
progressive  spirit,  giving  them  an  outlook,  giving 
them  an  ambition  to  do  things  worth}^  He  thus 
inspired  their  manhood  and  became  very  sympa- 
thetic in  his  relation  to  them.  He  often  helped 
them  to  buy  books,  loaned  them  books,  and 
started  them  toward  the  goal  of  higher  attainment 
and  service.  In  this  particular  he  was  not  afraid. 
He  walked  by  faith  as  well  as  by  sight.  He  was 
willing  to  try  out  men  and  policies  in  order  that 
he  might  know  the  result,  both  in  the  individual 
life  and  in  the  Church. 

One  of  the  ministers  of  his  old  conference,  the 
Scioto,  tells  that  when  but  a  boy  of  thirteen, 
Bishop  Mills  met  him  and  asked  him  the  question, 
"Don't  you  want  to  become  a  Christian  and  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ .f^"  at  once 
placing  before  him  not  only  the  question  of  pro- 
fession of  Christ,  his  Savior,  but  opening  the  door 
of  usefulness  in  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
minister.     So    many    persons    would    not    have 


132    THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP 

thought  of  the  second  statement.  A  minister, 
in  writing  in  reference  to  his  work  in  the  Oak  Hill 
charge,  says:  "In  addition  to  his  work  as  pastor, 
he  taught  a  select  school  in  the  summer  of  1874. 
Many  of  the  young  men  who  attended  his  school 
are  now  in  the  ministry  of  different  churches." 
This,  in  itself,  bears  testimony  to  his  work  as  a 
churchman. 

He  was  always  concerned  as  to  the  future  of 
the  individual  who  came  under  his  influence.  As 
a  leader  in  the  Church,  he  was  the  exponent  of 
higher  education,  always  urging  young  men  to 
go  to  college  and  to  the  Theological  Seminary  to 
secure  the  advantages  of  these  schools  of  learning. 
He  said  to  a  young  man  who  was  uncertain  as  to 
his  course,  "Young  man,  if  there  was  a  choice 
between  $25,000  and  a  college  course  presented 
to  you  to-day,  I  would  advise  you  to  take  the 
latter."  This  showed  his  opinion  not  only  of 
education  as  such,  but  of  the  college  as  a  means  to 
the  development  of  mental  power,  and  his  great 
faith  in  the  educational  institutions  of  our  de- 
nomination. 

His  gifts  to  our  schools  were  as  liberal  as  he 
could  possibly  make  them.  He  never  denied  the 
appeals  that  came  to  him  from  our  institutions, 
but  was  a  financial  supporter  of  all  of  our  colleges, 
academies,  and  Seminary.  His  great  earnestness 
caused  him  to  have  an  active  interest  in  every 
department  of  our  Church  life,  as  an  official  of 
the  denomination.  Secretaries  of  departments 
can  all  bear  testimony  to  his  wilHngness  to  present 
their  work  with  all  the  power  of  his  mind,  at  every 
time  and  place  where  opportunity  was  afforded. 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP     133 

Thus,  as  a  churchman,  he  was  ready  to  supplement 
and  second  the  effort  of  all  the  workers  in  the 
denomination. 

Mr.  Mills  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Bishop 
in  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
at  the  General  Conference  held  in  the  city  of 
Dayton,  May,  1893,  and  served  in  this  office  until 
the  time  of  his  death. 

As  Bishop,  he  served  the  West  District  for  two 
quadrenniums,  from  the  time  of  his  election  until 
1901.  This  district  was  composed  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Pacific  Coast  District  and  a  major 
part  of  the  present  West  District.  He  made  his 
home  in  Denver,  Colorado,  and  traveled  this 
immense  district,  touching  all  parts  of  it  at  least 
once  a  year. 

Bishop  Mills  was  a  liberal.  His  spirit  and 
life  were  in  sympathy  with  the  progressive  move- 
ments for  the  betterment  of  society  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  usefulness  of  the  Church  to 
which  he  belonged.  With  this  conception,  he 
entered  the  work  of  his  office  as  Bishop  of  the 
Church,  and  any  one  who  will  carefully  study  his 
rulings  will  find  that  on  every  occasion  he  sought 
to  support  every  effort  for  advancement  in  the 
departmental  work  of  the  denomination.  Es- 
pecially was  this  true  in  reference  to  Christian 
education,  for  he  firmly  believed,  after  his  years  of 
experience  as  a  teacher  and  as  president  at  Western 
College,  that  the  time  was  here  for  our  Church 
to  take  broad  grounds  on  all  questions  affecting 
human  conduct  and  life.  He  greatly  regretted 
the  errors  made  in  the  location  of  our  institutions 
of  learning — all  of  them,  without  an  exception,  at 


134    THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP 

that  time  being  located  in  little  villages,  away 
from  the  centers  of  influence  and  the  currents  of 
life.  Many  times  did  he  say,  "I  am  so  sorry  that 
our  students  can  not  catch  the  inspiration  that 
comes  from  mingling  with  the  people,  but  are 
narrowed  in  their  vision  and  conception  of  life  by 
living  their  lives  as  students  in  secluded  little 
villages,  thus  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  experience 
in  the  commercial  and  social  life  of  the  greater 
communities."  It  was  on  this  account  that  he 
stood  so  heroically  for  the  removal  of  Otterbein 
University  to  the  city  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  believing 
that,  by  thus  removing  the  school,  the  institution 
itself  would  be  helped  in  their  preparation  for 
future  service  in  the  world.  In  this  view  he  was 
supported  by  a  vast  majority  of  the  ministers  and 
people  of  the  co-operating  conferences,  nine  out 
of  the  ten  conferences  voting,  as  he  urged  them  to 
vote,  for  the  removal  of  the  institution. 

From  1901  to  the  time  of  his  death,  he  served 
the  East  District,  living  at  Annville,  Pennsylvania, 
where  Lebanon  Valley  College  is  situated.  His 
methods  as  Bishop  were  different  from  those  of 
many  of  his  predecessors.  He  was  very  practical 
in  all  of  his  undertakings,  being  a  great  planner 
and  organizer.  He  undertook  to  work  out  certain 
distinct  plans  which  he  thought  would  be  bene- 
ficial, not  only  to  the  conferences  but  to  the  local 
churches.  He  believed  in  raising  the  standards 
of  efficiency  of  the  ministry,  and  also  the  work  of 
the  local  church.  Hence  his  efforts  were  directed 
in  this  channel  both  at  the  annual  conferences 
and  in  his  visits  as  Bishop  to  conference  con- 
ventions, and  to  the  local  churches  as  well.  He  was 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP     135 

especially  particular  in  the  reports  of  pastors, 
insisting  that  they  be  accurate,  and  holding  many  a 
pastor  to  account  during  the  annual  conference 
sessions;  not  only  pleading  with,  but  reproving 
them  for  their  lack  of  care  in  the  reports  they  were 
then  submitting  to  the  annual  conferences. 

As  the  territory  over  which  he  presided  during 
the  first  quadrennium  was  frontier  mission  terri- 
tory for  our  denomination,  Bishop  Mills  felt  the 
necessity  of  urging  constructive  work  on  the  part 
of  those  who  were  to  be  the  pastors  in  this  field. 
He  was  in  favor  of  concentration,  making  a  few 
strong  churches  rather  than  a  number  of  weak  ones ; 
and  thus  build  up  the  influential  side  of  a  de- 
nominational life  in  this  new  territory.  Whether 
he  was  right  or  wrong  is  not  for  us  to  discuss  in 
his  biography;  only  to  state  the  fact,  which  may 
have  accounted  for  some  of  the  positions  that  he 
took  in  reference  to  the  work  of  home  missions 
in  this  territory  during  the  period  when  he  served 
as  the  Bishop  of  the  district.  He  has  often  been 
heard  to  say,  "One  strong  church  of  five  hundred 
or  a  thousand  in  one  of  the  great  cities  of  my 
district,  is  worth  a  whole  conference  of  struggling 
congregations,  dependent  upon  the  missionary 
board  for  their  support  and  existence."  His 
purpose,  therefore,  was  to  conserve  by  strength- 
ening these  local  churches.  Hence,  he  was  not 
found  planning  many  new  churches  or  conferences 
on  his  district,  and  it  accounts  for  his  attitude  on 
the  board,  as  he  applied  for  larger  individual 
appropriations,  in  order  that  he  might  obtain  the 
service  of  men  of  ability  and  strength  to  enter 
the  larger  cities  of  his  district. 


136    THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP 

Bishop  Mills  was  a  very  careful  student  of 
conditions.  There  seemed  to  be  a  special  power  of 
discernment  in  his  study  of  the  future  of  the  work 
of  the  Church.  Hence  his  position  on  the  boards 
and  commissions  of  the  Church  proved  him  to  be 
a  very  valuable  counselor  and  helper.  He  was 
always  very  earnest  in  his  support. 

A  peculiar  incident  is  found  in  one  of  his 
records  in  reference  to  the  Church  Commission, 
which  met  to  revise  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren 
in  Christ.  Said  meeting  occurred  in  the  First 
United  Brethren  Church,  Dayton,  Ohio,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1885.  Mr.  Mills  recorded  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  that  meeting,  going  into  the  minutest 
detail,  and  giving  an  outline  of  the  opening  ad- 
dress of  Bishop  Weaver  on  that  occasion.  He  had 
carefully  written  down  the  name  of  every  mem- 
ber of  the  commission,  both  ministerial  and  lay. 

In  reporting  the  third  day,  he  said:  "This 
was  a  fine  day — sunshiny;  different  from  the 
two  days  preceding,  which  were  gloomy  and 
rainy.  Perhaps  the  beauty  of  the  day  may  have 
helped  the  good  fellowship  of  the  body.  This  has 
been  exceptionally  pleasant  and  sweet  all  the  way 
down." 

After  going  through  all  these  preliminaries 
and  marking  every  move  by  the  commission,  he 
enters  into  a  personal  analysis  of  the  membership. 
In  this  analysis  he  reveals  his  discerning  power  in 
the  description  he  gives  of  the  churchmen  who 
composed  the  commission.  The  relative  position 
of  the  men  on  that  commission,  their  importance 
as  affecting  the  different  questions  that  arose,  and 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP     137 

the  effect  of  their  hves  upon  the  future  of  the 
Church — all  combine  to  reveal  his  keenness  of  per- 
ception as  relating  to  not  only  the  subject  matter 
of  Church  life  but  the  personnel  back  of  it. 

This  same  peculiar  element  of  leadership  was 
manifest  in  all  of  his  work,  and  especially  in  the  ne- 
gotiations between  the  Congregationalists,  Meth- 
odist Protestants,  and  United  Brethren  during 
the  period  of  their  effort  for  church  union.  Bishop 
Mills  was  a  leader  among  men  and  was  recognized 
as  such  by  the  churches  mentioned.  He  was 
always  on  the  alert  to  help  forward  an  interest  of 
this  kind  and  stood  among  those  in  the  front  rank 
favoring  this  triple  alliance,  which  would  have 
brought  these  churches  into  final  organic  union. 
All  his  public  utterances,  his  writings  and  his 
correspondence  reveal  his  intense  interest  in  the 
promotion  of  church  unity,  even  to  the  point  of 
organic  union.  He  was  always  anxious  to  know 
who  would  represent  the  other  churches,  for  then 
he  could  form  his  opinion  of  the  possibility  of 
accomplishing  the  end  desired.  He  was  seldom 
wrong  in  his  opinion  of  men  as  relating  to  their 
position — affirmative  or  negative — on  the  questions 
at  issue. 

In  the  annual  conferences  which  he  held  he 
was  always  progressive,  standing  for  the  new  order 
of  things  in  nearly  every  case.  He  was  very 
pronounced  in  favor  of  conference  superintend- 
ency  as  against  the  old  routine  presiding  elder. 
This  led  to  some  contests  in  the  conferences  that 
he  held,  but  he  succeeded  in  bringing  the  new 
plan  into  operation.  As  a  leader  in  this  matter, 
he  never  seemed   to  take  into  account  what  it 


138    THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP 

might  do  for  him  personally  to  stand  so  decidedly 
for  the  progressive  measures  that  he  believed 
would  open  a  new  ear  to  the  conference. 

As  a  churchman,  he  was  especially  charitable 
to  an  erring  brother;  disposed  to  give  him  another 
chance.  He  was  scathing  sometimes  in  his  repri- 
mands, but  it  was  usually  given  privately;  yet  after 
he  had  brought  the  brother  to  a  realization  of  his 
wrong-doing  Bishop  Mills  would  then  support  him 
to  the  measure  of  his  strength,  provided  the  man 
showed  a  disposition  to  do  right.  He  was  often 
heard  to  say  that  he  considered  it  Christlike  to 
thus  forgive. 

From  the  time  he  entered  the  work  of  the 
office  of  Bishop  he  was  prominent  in  all  the  councils 
of  the  Church,  an  incessant  worker  on  every  board 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  never  shirking  a 
responsibility  that  was  placed  upon  him.  He 
accomplished  much  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
and  for  the  Church;  and  for  this  reason  it  is 
interesting  to  study  him  in  his  official  relation  to 
the  Church.  There  was  one  subject  to  which 
he  often  referred  and  which  was  very  much  on 
his  mind;  that  was,  that  the  Church  might  have 
a  book  literature.  He  felt  that  if  the  denom- 
ination was  to  continue  to  grow,  there  must  be 
developed  an  authorship  which  would  produce 
the  books  necessary  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
children  as  they  grew  up  into  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. There  was  not  a  new  book  issued  in  the 
name  of  the  Church  that  he  did  not  give  to  it 
hearty  support,  in  order  that  others  might  be  en- 
couraged to  produce  manuscripts  of  permanent 
value  and  real  worth  to  the  denomination.     This, 


THE  CHURCHMAN  AND  BISHOP     139 

in  itself,  showed  his  far-sighted  judgment,  for  no 
one  can  doubt  the  wisdom  of  his  position  on  this 
subject. 

In  all,  Bishop  Mills'  leadership  was  a  great 
inspiration  to  the  Church  during  the  period  of  his 
active  service.  He  stands  out  as  pastor,  college 
pastor,  college  professor,  college  president,  and 
Bishop  as  a  very  unique  character  in  the  history 
of  our  denomination. 

It  was  his  impulse  to  act  quickly  on  his  first 
judgment,  considering  it  the  best.  On  this  account 
he  sometimes  chafed  just  a  little  because  measures 
that  he  favored  were  not  at  once  accepted  and 
pushed  to  a  final  issue,  but  he  would  always  move 
forward,  even  if  he  did  not  have  his  own  way  and 
his  own  plan  adopted.  So  the  Church  mourns 
his  loss  because  of  the  absence  of  his  construc- 
tive inspiration. 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  TO  HIS  FATHER 


Chapter  VIII 

THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  TO  HIS  FATHER 

:N  the  fall  of  1907,  father  left  home 
to  go  to  China,  Japan,  and  the 
Philippine  Islands  on  a  tour  of  in- 
spection. He  was,  at  that  time,  in 
a  weakened  physical  condition;  and 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  during  the 
serious  illness  of  his  daughter,  Lucile.  But  he 
regarded  the  wishes  of  the  Church  as  of  first  im- 
portance always,  and  so  left  on  the  long  journey. 
While  away  he  went  wherever  the  Church 
had  mission  stations,  regardless  of  weather  con- 
ditions or  of  his  own  physical  welfare,  and  covered 
the  whole  mission  territory  of  the  Church  in  the 
Orient. 

When  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  while  travel- 
ing to  a  distant  station  on  horseback,  in  crossing 
a  bamboo  bridge,  the  horse  broke  through  the 
bridge  and  threw  him.  He  lit  on  his  head  and 
shoulder,  and  severely  twisted  his  neck;  but  he 
resumed  his  journey  and  did  not  in  any  way  allow 
this  fall  to  interfere  with  his  trip. 

He  returned  home  in  the  following  June,  much 
more  worn  than  when  he  started.  The  mass  of 
work  that  had  accumulated  during  his  absence 
made  great  demands  upon  his  time  and  strength, 
giving  him  no  opportunity  to  rest  after  his  long 
journey.  He  tackled  the  work  with  his  usual 
determination,     and,     after    the    extremely    hot 


144  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

weather  of  the  summer  had  passed,  in  the  cool, 
pleasant  days  of  autumn  he  seemed  to  gain  some 
strength.  He  even  planned  a  hunting  trip  for 
deer  after  the  close  of  the  fall  conferences,  and  had 
the  place  selected  and  the  party  made  up;  but  at 
the  close  of  the  conferences  he  was  so  exhausted 
that  he  went  to  a  sanitarium  instead.  He  stayed 
there  for  some  weeks,  and  seemed  to  think  that  he 
had  received  great  benefit. 

In  December  and  January  he  undertook  some 
work  at  various  points,  but  in  February  came 
home  ill,  and  was  advised  by  his  doctors  to  cancel 
all  engagements  and  stay  indoors,  taking  treat- 
ment for  an  affection  of  the  throat.  For  some 
time  he  seemed  to  improve,  and  when  the  warm 
weather  of  spring  again  came  he  was  taken  out 
daily  into  the  open  air,  and  gained  strength  rapidly. 
The  doctors  assured  him  it  was  but  a  question  of 
time  until  he  would  be  in  good  health  again,  and 
until  within  two  days  of  his  death  he  never  doubted 
that  he  would  entirely  regain  his  former  strength 
and  vigor. 

As  the  time  approached  for  General  Con- 
ference to  convene,  the  doctors  agreed  that  he 
could  attend  safely  and  take  part  as  his  official 
position  demanded.  He  attended  the  General 
Conference  at  Canton,  and  took  part  in  the  de- 
hberations  as  he  was  able.  Previous  to  this,  he 
had  attended  all  the  Church  board  meetings  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  at  Dayton. 

Being  assured  by  his  physicians  that  he  soon 
would  be  in  normal  health,  he  stood  for  re-election 
to  the  bishopric,  and  was  re-elected. 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  145 

Near  the  close  of  the  sessions  he  made  too 
large  demands  upon  his  strength,  and  one  day,  in 
the  conference  room,  suffered  a  serious  and  almost 
fatal  collapse.  From  this  he  rallied,  largely 
through  the  professional  skill  of  his  old-time 
friend,  Dr.  E.  R.  Smith,  of  Toledo,  Iowa,  who  was 
a  delegate  to  the  General  Conference.  After  two 
days'  rest,  he  again  attended  the  sessions  of  the 
Conference. 

After  the  General  Conference  he  came  home, 
hopeful,  full  of  courage  and  faith,  but  very  weak 
in  body.  He  was  advised  by  all  of  the  Church 
officials  to  take  a  long  rest  and  recuperate  his 
strength;  and  he  was  assured  that  his  work  would 
be  cared  for  by  his  friends.  These  kind  words 
and  acts  of  his  co-workers  eased  his  mind  of  worry 
over  his  own  work,  and  gave  him  the  opportunity 
to  get  the  rest  he  so  much  needed,  and  which, 
taken  earlier,  might  have  saved  his  life. 

He  spent  the  spring  and  summer  quietly  with 
his  family  in  his  home  at  Annville,  Pennsylvania, 
always  cheerful,  hopeful,  and  full  of  courage, 
never  doubting  that  time  would  bring  back  to 
him  the  health  which  he  so  earnestly  desired.  If 
at  any  time,  during  his  illness  of  almost  two  years, 
he  was  discouraged,  he  never  said  anything  that 
would  indicate  it.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  as 
keenly  interested  in  everything,  and  as  hopeful 
of  the  progress  of  the  Church  and  of  his  own  future 
ability  to  work  in  and  for  it  as  he  had  in  the  past, 
as  a  young  minister  is  who  has  been  successful, 
and  whose  work  has  been  interrupted  by  a  short 
period  of  illness. 


146  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

All  that  long,  hot  summer  he  rested,  and 
planned,  and  thought.  He  was  under  the  constant 
care  of  three  physicians,  and  every  known  remedy 
was  resorted  to  that  the  diseased  throat  might 
yield  to  treatment.  He  suffered  no  pain  of  any 
kind,  nor  did  he  at  any  time  during  his  illness;  the 
nerves  which  naturally  would  have  caused  pain 
were  practically  paralyzed  by  the  growth  in  the 
throat. 

As  the  summer  days  were  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  fall  was  again  approaching,  his  physician 
realized  that  the  condition  of  his  throat  was  not 
improving,  but  was  slowly  and  steadily  growing 
worse.  Father  was  not  aware  of  his  condition, 
but  insisted  that,  if  there  was  any  change  at  all, 
it  was  only  temporarily  for  the  worse,  and  that  he 
would  soon  begin  to  regain  strength.  He  had 
strength  at  this  time  barely  sufficient  to  walk 
around  in  the  house,  but  sometimes  he  insisted  on 
trying  to  walk  out  into  the  yard,  to  see  how  his 
flowers  were  growing.  He  was  exceedingly  fond 
of  trees  and  plants,  and  especially  flowers  of  a 
blue  color. 

He  had  acquired  a  small  tract  of  land  adjoin- 
ing the  rear  of  the  house,  and  there  set  out  an 
orchard  of  apple,  peach,  plum,  cherry,  and  pear 
trees,  and  always  said  that  after  he  retired  from 
the  bishopric,  which  would  be  in  1913,  he  intended 
to  farm,  and  to  write  some  books;  the  latter  he 
had  never  been  able  to  find  time  to  do. 

As  he  sat  on  the  porch,  day  after  day,  during 
the  summer  of  1909,  too  weak  to  read  or  write,  he 
planned  the  work  in  his  diocese,  and  also  some  of 
the  writing  he  intended  doing  as  soon  as  he  had 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  147 

time  and  leisure.  He  had  in  mind  a  book  on 
"Deaconess  Work,"  and  also  several  other  works 
of  a  theological  nature,  which  one  of  the  large 
Eastern  publishing  houses  of  the  country  con- 
templated issuing.  It  was  his  habit  not  to  discuss 
his  work  in  his  home,  but  to  keep  out  of  the  home 
everything  except  of  a  cheerful  or  optimistic 
nature.  If  some  part  of  the  work  went  well,  he 
occasionally  mentioned  it,  but  usually  refrained 
from  discussing  any  phase  of  his  work  that  might 
bring  worry  to  any  member  of  the  family. 

That  he  never  committed  to  paper  any  of  his 
lectures,  and  very  few  of  his  sermons,  is  a  source 
of  profound  regret  to  his  family  and  friends.  His 
notes  were  always  brief,  so  brief  that  they  con- 
stituted the  merest  general  outline  of  either  sermon 
or  address;  but  each  was  thought  out  to  great 
length,  and  thoroughly  prepared  before  he  at- 
tempted to  deliver  it  from  the  pulpit  or  platform. 
At  intervals  during  that  summer  friends  came  from 
a  distance  to  see  him,  and  he  was  always  glad  to 
see  them;  they  never  failed  to  arouse  him  to  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  better  days,  and  always  left  him 
convinced  that  he  would  soon  be  in  good  health 
again.  One  of  the  most  constant  of  these  friends 
in  attendance  was  Mr.  Charles  B.  Rettew,  now 
deceased,  of  Harrisburg,  a  layman,  and  a  man  of 
iron  will,  whose  coming  was  always  an  inspiration 
to  my  father. 

One  of  the  first  questions  father  asked  of  all 
visitors  was,  "What  is  the  last  thing  you  have 
read.'^"  and,  on  hearing  of  a  new  book  read, 
usually  asked  for  a  brief  outline.  He  kept  in  close 
touch  with  all  discussions  dealing  with  theology. 


148  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

whether  constructive  or  destructive,  and  always 
was  prepared  to  defend  constructive  criticism. 
In  his  Hbrary  to-day  are  books  on  destructive 
criticism  marked  at  the  end  in  his  firm,  well- 
known  handwriting  with  the  single  word  "Bosh" 
— an  expression  of  his  attitude  on  the  questions 
discussed  in  the  volume.  He  not  only  read  every- 
thing along  the  line  of  theology  that  came  out 
from  time  to  time  but  was  equally  well  informed 
along  the  lines  of  philosophy,  sociology,  and 
psychology. 

Whenever  he  took  up  any  subject  for  study, 
he  at  once  sent  for  all  the  standard  works  on  that 
subject  and  read  them.  He  always  said  that  a 
man  ought  never  to  buy  a  book  unless  he  would 
read  it  at  once.  He  had  early  in  life  acquired  the 
habit  of  very  rapid  reading,  together  with  intense 
concentration,  so  that  he  could  get  the  gist  of  a 
volume  of  philosophy  or  sociology  as  quickly  as 
most  rapid  readers  are  able  to  follow  the  thread 
of  a  plot  in  an  absorbing  novel. 

When  he  became  interested  in  fruit  raising, 
knowing  little  of  the  results  of  recent  scientific  re- 
searches in  that  line,  he  made  the  subject  a  study, 
and  obtained  many  of  the  latest  authoritative 
works.  He  visited  orchards  and  nurseries,  talked 
with  practical  horticulturists,  and  then  planted 
his  orchard.  This  is  only  one  example  of  his 
careful  preparation  for  any  line  of  work,  whether 
it  was  a  sermon,  lecture,  or  something  in  the  line 
of  practical  farming. 

As  he  sat  on  the  porch  that  summer,  he 
planned  new  flower-beds,  and  many  other  improve- 
ments to  the  home  property  to  be  made  yet  that 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  149 

fall,  to  show  results  in  bloom  the  next  spring. 
One  thing  in  particular  that  he  planned  was  four 
great  beds  of  red  and  yellow  tulips,  and  daffodils, 
and  a  bed  of  blue  hyacinths ;  of  all  these  he  was 
very  fond.  Those  flowers  were  all  planted  as  he 
had  directed,  and  year  after  year  they  bloom, 
bright  and  beautiful,  emblems  of  hope  and  faith 
and  cheer;  a  constant  reminder  of  his  love  of  all 
things  good  and  beautiful. 

As  August  came  he  became  weaker  in  body 
but  as  strong  in  courage  as  he  had  ever  been.  His 
children  were  informed  of  the  serious  turn  of  his 
illness,  and  came  home.  Nothing  dehghted  him 
more  than  to  be  surrounded  by  his  children.  In 
a  Christmas  address  once,  he  said  that  that  season 
was  the  best  and  most  beautiful  of  the  whole  year 
to  him,  for  it  meant  the  birthday  of  the  Savior, 
and  the  coming  together  of  earthly  families  for 
another  reunion  under  the  parental  roof. 

He  was  greatly  pleased  that  his  children  all 
came  home,  and  never  for  a  moment  suspected 
that  his  own  weakened  condition  was  responsible 
for  their  presence.  He  was  always  fond  of  sur- 
rounding himself  with  little  children  and  telling 
them  stories— of  animals,  fairies,  and  all  those 
things  which  children  like  best  to  hear,  and  which 
serve  to  develop  their  imaginations.  During  the 
days  he  felt  able,  he  would  have  his  two  little 
granddaughters,  Mary  Ellen  and  Katherine,  sit 
by  his  side,  and  by  the  hour  he  would  tell  them  of 
conditions  when  he  was  a  little  boy,,  of  his  child- 
hood home,  and  of  the  various  pets  and  animals 
they  had  on  the  farm.  The  little  girls  never  tired 
of  these  stories,  and  their  grandfather  never  tired 


150  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

of  the  presence  of  the  Kttle  girls,  nor  did  he  ever 
become  impatient  with  them. 

Late  in  August,  when  it  was  seen  that  his 
condition  was  serious,  a  nurse  was  installed  to  care 
for  him.  He  had  protested  against  this,  as  he 
said  that  he  was  not  really  very  ill  at  all,  and  that, 
the  presence  of  the  nurse  would  not  be  of  any  aid, 
and  would  only  be  a  reminder  that  he  was  sick. 
But  he  was  finally  persuaded  that  it  was  necessary, 
as  the  months  of  constant  watchfulness,  anxiety, 
and  care  had  made  serious  inroads  upon  the 
strength  of  his  wife,  who  had  been  constantly  at 
his  side  day  and  night  during  all  his  long  illness. 

In  September,  on  Labor  Day,  father,  although 
feeble,  wanted  to  walk  out  in  the  yard  and  see 
some  of  the  roses,  one  or  two  of  which  were  in 
bloom.  The  day  was  hot,  but  he  thought,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  nurse,  he  was  strong  enough 
to  do  it.  But  it  was  too  great  a  tax  upon  his 
strength,  and,  after  walking  but  a  short  distance, 
he  came  back  to  the  porch,  and  sat  there  much  of 
the  day.  In  the  afternoon  some  friends  came  to 
see  him,  but  he  was  so  exhausted  that  he  could  not 
arouse  himself  more  than  to  greet  them  and  answer 
their  questions.  In  the  early  evening,  he  had  a 
chill,  and  was  put  to  bed  and  the  doctor  hastily 
summoned.  This  left  him  very  weak,  and  he 
was  never  down  stairs  and  in  the  open  air  again. 

These  chills  were  succeeded  by  a  high  fever, 
and  were  the  same  to  which  he  had  been  subject 
since  a  serious  attack  of  African  fever  in  1896, 
while  in  Sierra  Leone,  West  Africa.  From  1896 
until  his  death  in  1909,  he  had  had  repeated  re- 
turns of  the  African  fever,  and  in  1897  in  Denver, 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  151 

his  life  had  been  threatened  by  a  serious  attack. 
Whenever  he  was  greatly  overworked,  this  fever 
would  manifest  itself.  It  seemed  to  have  left  a 
poison  in  his  system,  which  finally  helped  shorten 
his  life. 

From  Labor  Day  on,  it  was  only  a  question 
of  time  as  to  how  long  he  could  live.  The  doctors 
thought  it  might  be  some  months,  but  as  day  after 
day  he  became  weaker,  they  recognized  that  the 
end  was  rapidly  approaching.  They  asked  that 
noted  specialists  be  summoned,  and  this  was  at 
once  done.  What  the  exact  trouble  was,  had  not 
been  clearly  understood;  but  the  diagnosis  made 
by  the  attending  physicians  and  the  specialist 
coincided,  and  later  was  proved  to  be  correct  by 
a  post-mortem  examination. 

Friday  night,  of  the  week  before  father  died, 
the  physicians  told  my  mother  and  the  family, 
not  only  that  he  could  not  live,  but  that  his  life 
was  only  a  question  of  a  few  days  at  best.  It 
came  as  a  very  great  shock  to  her,  as  she  had 
had  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  her  husband's 
great  recuperative  ability  and  in  his  strong  will 
power.  Even  at  this  time,  father  never  for  a 
moment  questioned  but  that  he  would  ultimately 
fully  recover  his  health. 

On  Sunday,  September  1?,  an  effort  was  made 
to  give  him  nourishment  by  absorption.  The 
difficulty  was,  and  had  been,  through  all  those 
months  of  illness,  that  he  could  not  swallow  food. 
He  suffered  no  pain  of  any  kind,  nor  did  he  suffer 
any  during  his  entire  illness.  It  was  pitiful,  to  his 
friends  and  especially  to  his  family,  to  see  him 
surrounded   by  food,  and  yet  unable   to   swallow 


152  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

except  in  the  most  minute  quantities.  His  throat 
was  slowly  closing,  and  he,  a  large  and  powerful 
man,  with  a  normal  weight  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty -five  pounds,  was  gradually  relinquishing  a 
useful  and  efficient  life,  because  of  a  small  growth 
in  his  throat.  Every  means  that  could  be  em- 
ployed was  used  to  relieve  him.  Specialists  were 
employed  who  consulted  other  specialists,  but  all 
to  no  purpose;  his  throat  continued  slowly  but 
surely  to  close. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  September  13,  he 
asked  me  to  write  to  his  friend.  Dr.  John  R.  King, 
who  was  about  to  sail  for  Africa  from  New  York, 
and,  among  other  things  said,  "It  is  a  little  dis- 
couraging now,  but  I  hope  soon  to  be  improved  in 
health."  That  letter  was  the  last  he  ever  dictated 
as  a  matter  of  regular  correspondence. 

That  night  he  was  very  restless.  At  the  mid- 
night hour  the  nurse  became  alarmed,  and  fearing 
the  end  was  near,  called  the  family.  Up  to  this 
time  father  had  not  the  least  suspicion  that  his 
case  was  hopeless.  He  had  not  been  told  of  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  all  the  specialists  and  of  his 
regular  physicians — that  he  not  only  could  not 
recover,  but  that  his  life  was  only  a  question  of 
days;  so  when  the  nurse  informed  the  family  of 
his  dangerous  condition,  it  was  decided  that  he 
ought  to  know  that  his  death  was  perhaps  a  matter 
of  but  minutes  or  hours.  To  me  was  given  this 
sad  task;  and  at  one  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of 
September  fourteenth,  with  my  mother  and  oldest 
sister  at  his  bedside  to  help  sustain  him  in  the 
knowledge  that  his  useful  life  was  at  an  end,  as 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  153 

gently  as  I  could,  I  told  him  that  his  doctors  said 
he  could  not  recover. 

He  was  greatly  startled,  and  insisted  that  it 
could  not  be  possible.  He  said  to  me:  "You  are 
surely  mistaken.  What  makes  you  draw  the 
conclusion  that  I  must  die-f^  Why  do  you  tell  me 
ihsit?  I  cannot  die.  I  have  not  the  time.  I  have 
not  nearly  completed  my  work.  Why,  I  have 
at  least  ten  years'  work  yet  to  do."  So  he  talked, 
and  I  had  to  prove  to  him,  as  proof  would  be 
required  in  a  case  in  court,  that  he  could  not  live. 
After  father  and  I  had  talked  for  perhaps  fifteen 
minutes,  and  all  that  the  specialists  had  said  was 
laid  before  him,  he  turned  to  my  mother  and 
sister  and  said,  "Well,  if  you  will  take  it  as  brave- 
ly as  I,  it  will  be  all  right."  In  so  suddenly  having 
the  absolute  knowledge  of  his  death  laid  before 
him,  he  made  no  complaint  whatever,  but  accepted 
the  fact  philosophically  and  with  the  fullest  faith 
in  the  Christian  religion  in  the  ministry  of  which 
he  had  labored  for  forty  years. 

He  was  asked  whether  he  desired  to  see  any 
one,  or  to  leave  any  message,  and  he  at  once  said 
that  he  wished  to  see  his  brother.  Rev.  WilHam  J. 
Mills,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
now  of  Arapahoe,  Colorado,  and  also  his  intimate 
friend  and  fellow  churchman.  Rev.  W.  R.  Funk, 
of  Dayton,  Ohio.  These  men  were  at  once  sent 
for. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  night  he  was 
quiet.  He  was  perfectly  conscious,  and  while  he 
did  not  sleep,  he  rested.  He  did  not  seem  to  care 
to  talk,  but  spent  the  time  in  thought.  As  morn- 
ing approached,  he  asked  that  his  physicians  be 


154  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

sent  for.  On  their  arrival,  he  asked  them  if  he 
could  not  recover;  and  they  answered  that  he 
could  not.  He  then  told  them  that  he  had  thought 
of  a  method  by  which  he  could  be  operated  upon 
and  that  that  would  surely  save  his  life,  and  allow 
him  to  recover  and  go  ahead  with  his  work.  He 
emphasized  to  them  that  he  was  too  busy  a  man 
to  die;  he  had  too  much  work  still  to  be  completed. 
With  deep  regret  they  explained  to  him  that  the 
operation  suggested  was  out  of  the  question,  it 
would  hasten  his  death.  He  asked,  then,  if  noth- 
ing could  be  done  to  help  him,  and  was  told  that 
only  by  his  taking  nourishment  and  swallowing  it 
could  his  life  be  prolonged.  He  exclaimed,  "I  will 
take  snake  eggs,  and  swallow  them  too,  if  that  will 
do  any  good,"  and  laughed, 

That  morning  a  desperate  effort  was  made  to 
open  his  throat  and  put  a  tube  down  by  which 
nourishment  could  be  administered  to  him,  but 
it  was  of  no  avail.  Everything  failed  that  was 
tried.  As  he  saw  and  understood  that  all  had 
failed,  he  knew  that  he  must  die;  but  he  said  to  me: 
"You  need  not  worry.  I  will  fight  as  hard  to  get 
well  as  if  I  were  going  to  get  well.  I  will  get  well 
if  it  is  humanely  possible." 

Later  on  in  the  day,  he  said  to  me:  "I  was 
never  in  a  better  state  of  grace  to  die.  All  the 
time  I  have  been  lying  here,  I  have  prayed  con- 
stantly, and  now  I  have  conquered  my  temper, 
and  I  have  conquered  my  tongue."  His  temper 
and  his  tongue  were  his  worst  enemies,  and  he  told 
me  that  it  had  been  a  life-long  fight  to  keep  them 
in  control. 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  155 

His  family  were  constantly  around  his  bed, 
but  he  said  no  word  of  farewell.  He  did  not  wish 
to  distress  them  more  deeply  than  he  could  help. 
The  only  farewell  which  he  wished  to  send,  was  to 
his  life-long  friend.  Rev.  H.  A.  Thompson,  D.D. 
He  had  me  receive  the  dictation,  in  which  he  said 
that  he  had  a  secret  to  tell  Docto"  Thompson,  and 
this  was  that  he  would  have  to  get  some  one  else 
to  preach  his  funeral  sermon.  Father  had  agreed 
to  do  that,  should  Doctor  Thompson,  an  older 
man  than  he,  be  called  first.  He  closed  his  letter 
with  "Goodby,"  as  simply  as  if  he  were  going  only 
on  a  short  journey,  and  expected  soon  to  return. 

During  the  day  he  talked  over  many  things 
about  the  house,  planned  a  new  flower-bed,  and 
gave  directions  to  care  for  some  berry  bushes  in 
his  new  orchard.  All  these  things  he  did  quietly 
and  just  as  if  he  were  leaving  directions  for  things 
to  be  done  while  he  was  on  a  journey  from  which 
he  would  soon  return.  He  planned  just  as  he  always 
did  before  he  went  on  any  long  journey.  The  only 
thing  that  seemed  to  trouble  him  was  the  possible 
loneliness  of  mother,  and  the  fear  that  she  might 
not  be  tenderly  cared  for.  After  I  had  promised 
to  look  after  this,  he  had  no  more  worries,  and 
prepared  cheerfully  for  the  end  of  his  life  on  this 
earth. 

On  that  Tuesday  evening,  the  family  sat  with 
him  and  he  talked  cheerfully  of  the  events  of  the 
day,  was  interested  in  everything  around  him, 
and  would  let  no  gloom  into  the  atmosphere. 
He  rested  fairly  well  during  the  night  and  woke 
early  on  Wednesday  morning.  On  the  early 
train   he  expected   his   brother,  and   also  Doctor 


156  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

Funk.  They  came,  and  he  was  very  glad  to  see 
them.  He  spent  the  day  in  talking  to  them  of  old 
friends,  neighbors,  and  people  known  to  them  and 
to  him,  of  the  years  long  since  gone.  He  even 
joked  cheerfully,  and  told  pleasant  stories,  and 
laughed  heartily  at  them. 

He  thought  that  it  was  his  duty  to  resign  from 
the  bishopric  of  the  Church,  so  that  another  man 
could  be  at  once  appointed;  but  his  family,  and 
especially  myself,  urged  most  strongly  against 
that  step.  I  contended  that  insomuch  as  he  was 
giving  his  life  to  the  Church,  he  was  entitled  to 
die  as  a  soldier  would  fall  in  battle,  with  his  full 
powers  of  office  intact.  Father  finally  consented 
to  do  this,  and  to  die  an  officer  of  the  Church, 
stricken  at  his  post  of  duty. 

He  did  not  discuss  Church  matters,  nor  did 
he  leave  any  plans  for  the  Church  at  large,  as  has 
frequently  been  said  since  his  death  by  certain 
men  within  the  Church.  This  his  family  desires 
to  be  emphasized.  But  the  labors  of  the  years 
gone,  were  talked  of  and  with  Doctor  Funk  he 
also  talked  of  his  funeral  arrangements.  He  had 
agreed  with  his  family  that  he  would  be  buried 
in  the  Scottdale  cemetery  at  Scottdale,  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  home  of  Mrs.  Mills  and  her  people. 

He  also  talked  to  Doctor  Funk  of  his  uncom- 
pleted literary  work,  and  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
almost  no  manuscript  of  his  sermons  and  lectures, 
as  he  had  intended,  after  his  active  work  was  over, 
to  devote  the  latter  years  of  his  life  to  writing  them 
and  doing  much  other  literary  work,  mostly  of  a 
theological  nature.  Doctor  Funk  had  to  leave 
that  afternoon,  the  last  of  the  Bishop's  life,  to 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  157 

dedicate  the  church  at  Greensburg,  Pennsylvania. 
Father  himself  was  to  have  officiated  at  this 
dedication. 

Wednesday  evening  the  entire  family  were 
again  with  him — his  wife,  his  three  daughters,  his 
son,  his  son-in-law,  his  brother,  and  his  brother- 
in-law,  Albert  Keister.  He  was  in  excellent 
spirits,  laughing  and  joking,  and  telling  stories  of 
his  boyhood.  He  was  interested  in  everything 
that  went  on  around  him,  and  also  in  the  events 
of  the  past.  He  asked  his  brother,  whom  he  had 
not  seen  in  some  years,  all  about  the  people  with 
whom  he  associated  in  his  boyhood,  and  of  several 
told  funny  stories  connected  with  them. 

That  night  there  was  little  sleep  in  the  house- 
hold, for  it  was  realized  that  the  end  was  near  at 
hand.  A  heavy  fog  had  settled  over  the  valley 
and  toward  morning  there  was  a  cold  drizzling 
rain.  Father  awoke  with  a  raging  fever,  and 
spoke  of  extreme  thirst.  He  said  that  if  he  had  a 
drink  from  a  beautiful  little  spring  not  very  far 
distant,  he  felt  certain  that  that  would  quench 
his  thirst.  The  water  was  obtained,  but  the  thirst 
and  the  fever  increased.  The  doctors  saw  that  the 
end  could  not  be  very  far  away,  and  father  himself 
evidently  realized  it.  He  said  little,  but  was 
interested  in  all  that  went  on  around  him.  Being 
interested  in  the  study  of  psychology  in  college,  I 
asked  father,  who  was  known  as  a  psychologist, 
if  he  would  not  communicate  with  me  from  the 
other  side,  and  he  replied  that  he  would  do  so, 
were  it  in  any  way  possible.  When  I  asked  him 
to  leave  a  sign  by  which  he  might  be  known,  he 
declined  to  do  so,  saying  that  if  he  could  com- 


158  THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE 

municate,  he  would  do  so  in  such  a  way  that  I 
could  not  be  mistaken;  while  if  he  left  a  sign  or 
signal,  I  might  sometime  think  that  he  had  com- 
municated when  he  had  not. 

As  the  morning  advanced,  the  fever  seemed 
to  rise  and  he  was  very  restless.  My  sister,  Mrs. 
Rush,  brought  in  her  little  girls  to  see  grandpa, 
who  had  so  often  amused  them  with  his  stories. 
He  was  very  fond  of  the  little  girls,  Mary  Ellen 
and  Katherine,  and  shook  hands  with  them,  saying 
to  the  younger,  a  little  fair-haired  girl  in  her 
mother's  arms,  "Good-by,  Tattie."  That  was  the 
only  farewell  which  he  spoke  to  any  member  of 
his  family,  although  he  realized  that  his  life  was 
fast  slipping  away. 

The  doctors,  D.  P.  Gerberich  and  Guy  Ger- 
berich,  the  latter  a  throat  specialist,  were  with  him 
constantly,  and  on  this  last  forenoon  Doctor  D.  P. 
Gerberich  stayed  with  him  until  the  end.  At  his 
bedside  were  his  wife,  his  daughters,  Mrs.  F.  P. 
Rush,  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  Mrs.  A.  R.  Clip- 
pinger,  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  Miss  Lucile  Mills, 
now  Mrs.  Guy  A.  Gerberich,  Lebanon,  Pennsyl- 
vania, his  son,  Mr.  Alfred  Keister  Mills,  his  son- 
in-law,  Rev.  A.  R.  Clippinger,  his  brother.  Rev. 
W.  J.  Mills,  of  Arapahoe,  Colorado,  and  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Albert  Keister,  of  Scottdale, 
Pennsylvania,  and  his  nurse,  Mr.  William  Rankin. 

Father  was  fully  conscious,  and  while  con- 
sumed with  a  burning  fever,  did  not  become 
delirious.  He  answered  questions  at  once,  but 
did  not  speak  except  to  ask  for  bits  of  ice.  After 
noon,  he  began  to  fail  rapidly,  and  while  I  was 
sitting  by  the  bed,  I  said  to  him:  "Father,  do  you 


THE  SON'S  TRIBUTE  159 

know  what  is  going  on  about  you?  Do  you  know 
us?"  He  glanced  at  each  around  his  bed,  and  an- 
swered, "Yes."  I  then  said:  "Father,  can  you  see 
over  to  that  other  side?  Can  you  distinguish 
faces?"  and  he  answered,  "Not  yet."  After  that  he 
was  not  aroused  again,  and  at  about  one  fifteen  in 
the  afternoon  lost  consciousness,  and  at  one  twen- 
ty-seven his  spirit  passed  to  God.  Not  once  had  his 
brilliant  mind  become  clouded  in  all  these  months 
of  illness;  not  once  had  it  failed,  but  had  remained 
clear  and  strong  up  to  within  a  very  few  minutes 
of  the  close  of  his  life. 

He  died,  as  he  had  lived  and  preached,  in  the 
full  faith  and  hope  of  the  Christian  religion,  trust- 
ing absolutely  in  the  infinite  mercy  and  justice  of 
God,  and  in  the  full  belief  of  heaven  and  his  reward 
after  a  faithful  life,  full  of  toil  and  service  for  his 
Master.  He  wished  to  live  longer,  not  for  the 
sake  of  life,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  work  which  he 
was  doing.  That  he  did  much  for  his  Church,  all 
must  agree.  If  he  made  mistakes,  he  was  faithful 
to  the  end  and  gave  all  that  one  man  can  give — 
his  best  life  and  service. 


BISHOP  MILLS  AT  HOME 


HIS  PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 


Chapter  IX 

HIS  PERSONAL  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

JEW  men  stood  so  high  morally  as 
did  Bishop  Mills.  Never  was  the 
breath  of  scandal  associated  with 
his  name.  Personally,  he  was  clean 
in  thought,  principle,  and  action. 
He  abhorred  evil  as  a  community 
does  a  contagion.  This  caused  him  to  be  an 
extremist  on  matters  of  personal  character  and 
community  vices.  He  stood  opposed  to  every 
tendency  that  degraded  manhood  or  womanhood, 
whether  in  the  open  dens  of  wickedness  or  in 
the  secluded,  sheltered  places — palaces  of  wealth. 
All  these  social  conditions  caused  him  great  con- 
cern, as  he  studied  the  problems  of  state  and 
church;  and  they  made  him  an  ardent  defender 
of  the  "pure  life"  as  it  relates  to  human  conduct. 
In  the  study  of  the  outlines  of  his  discourses  and 
addresses,  this  fact  is  made  very  prominent;  for 
conduct  in  its  different  aspects  was  one  of  the 
richest  fields  in  which  he  applied  the  Christ 
principles  of  life. 

It  can  be  said  of  this  man,  "Out  of  the  abun- 
dance of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."  No 
utterances  of  his  lips,  whether  pious  or  rash,  were 
uttered  that  did  not  have  a  basis  of  feeling  in  his 
inner  soul.  Born  with  an  unyielding  will  power 
and   a   high   temper,   he   was   often   in   desperate 


164  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

struggles  with  himself  and  others;  and,  in  moments 
of  excitement,  he  would  utter  words  for  which  he 
was  afterwards  very  sorry.  It  was  said  of  him, 
sometimes,  that  his  words  were  keener  than  the 
razor  blade.  But,  with  all  this,  he  seldom  yielded 
to  this  frame  of  mind.  His  sympathetic  nature 
would  finally  prevail,  and,  in  nearly  every  case, 
he  was  ready  to  make  amends  for  any  harsh  state- 
ment he  might  have  made. 

These  traits  of  character  mark  him  as  an 
exemplary  man.  No  one  knew  the  contest  he  had 
with  himself.  When  he  met  an  individual  of  like 
temperament,  and  a  difference  arose  between  them, 
there  was  certain  to  be  a  lively  contest;  and,  as 
Bishop  Mills  did  not  know  how  to  retreat,  the 
contest  was  always  to  a  finish,  or  until  the  opponent 
subsided.  It  is  said  of  artists,  philosophers,  and 
men  of  mechanical  genius  that  they  are  men  of 
strong  and  unyielding  wills,  easily  stirred  by 
opposition,  and,  as  a  result,  severe  in  their  retali- 
ation. Whether  this  element  is  one  of  strength  or 
weakness,  is  still  a  debatable  question.  Without 
it,  these  individuals  who  stand  out  so  marked 
because  of  their  achievements  in  the  historic  world 
might  have  been  lost  in  the  crowd,  and  their  works 
remained  unaccomplished.  Without  this  element 
of  will  and  temper,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
Bishop  Mills  would  have  yielded,  first  of  all,  to 
disease  in  his  childhood;  and  then  have  drifted 
away  from  his  life  work  because  of  the  trying  cir- 
cumstances surrounding  the  first  years  of  his 
ministerial  career. 

When,  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he 
attended  the    Scioto  Annual  Conference,  at  Wes- 


TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER  165 

terville,  Ohio,  he  pubHcly  denounced  the  annual 
conference  as  being  responsible  for  the  death  of  his 
wife,  due  to  the  fact  that,  during  the  year  previous 
they  had  not  provided  him  with  a  field  of  labor 
such  as  would  give  his  family  the  support  necessary 
for  their  protection;  and,  as  a  result,  as  he  claimed, 
his  wife  was  taken  from  him.  Of  course,  this  was 
but  another  evidence  of  the  strong,  positive  temper 
and  impulsive  nature  of  this  great  man. 

But  Bishop  Mills'  disposition  was  versatile. 
While  he  was  quick  to  resent,  he  was  just  as  quick 
to  appreciate,  and  any  kindness  shown  him  by 
friend  or  foe  was  always  reciprocated  to  the  fullest 
extent. 

He  also  appreciated  a  joke,  either  at  his  own 
expense  or  the  expense  of  another,  as  long  as 
neither  was  injured;  but  he  always  resented  any- 
thing that  was  injurious  in  this  line.  One  day 
when  he  arrived  at  Elizabethtown,  Pennsylvania, 
with  his  two  heavy  suit-cases  partially  filled  with 
books,  which  he  always  carried  with  him  for  the 
purpose  of  study  as  he  went  from  place  to  place, 
a  slender  little  fellow,  a  minister,  came  to  meet 
him  and  undertook  to  carry  his  suit-cases  for  him. 
As  he  could  not  make  much  headway  with  the 
load,  the  Bishop,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  said  to 
him,  "You  cannot  yet  carry  the  load  of  a  Bishop, 
young  man." 

When  he  was  a  little  fellow  at  home,  it  was 
unusual  to  see  negroes,  and,  as  a  small  boy,  he 
hardly  knew  what  to  think  of  them.  One  day. 
when  going  along  the  road,  he  met  a  little  negro. 
He  looked  at  him  intently  for  a  while,  and  then 
said  slowly,  "Two  pealed  onions  in  a  bucket  of 


166  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

tar";  then,  turning  quickly,  he  took  to  his  heels, 
and  ran  away  as  fast  as  he  could. 

As  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  those  who  were 
not  closely  associated  with  Bishop  Mills,  he  was, 
nevertheless,  a  great  hunter,  and  enjoyed  the  sport 
with  rare  relish.  When  in  Oregon,  while  Bishop 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  he  frequently  went  out  after 
bear,  cougar,  and  deer.  This  story  is  told  of  him: 
While  hunting  on  Mt.  Hood  on  one  occasion  he 
was  gone  for  several  days.  When  he  came  home 
he  said  little  concerning  the  trip,  except  that  he 
had  enjoyed  the  trip.  Some  time  afterwards, 
when  a  member  of  this  party  was  again  in  the 
community  hunting,  he  learned  that,  when  the 
Bishop  had  been  up  there  previously  after  bear,  a 
small  black  calf  had  jumped  up  and  the  Bishop, 
quickly  aiming  his  rifle,  brought  the  supposed 
bear  down;  but,  upon  investigation,  had  found  his 
mistake.  It  is  said  that  the  farmer  received  full 
pay  for  his  calf.  Whether  this  story  is  false  or 
true,  the  Bishop  was  compelled  to  submit  to  a 
good  many  jokes  concerning  it. 

This  humorous  trait  of  character  was  often 
manifested  in  the  home  and  in  social  fellowship 
but  never  appeared  in  his  pulpit  work.  In  op- 
position to  this  humorous  trait,  stands  one  word 
which,  possibly,  represents  his  severest  contest; 
that  word  is  "timidity."  No  man  suffered  more 
from  this  trait  of  character  than  did  Bishop  Mills. 
He  has  said  to  the  writer,  time  and  time  again,  that 
he  never  rose  to  speak  on  any  occasion  but  he  had 
to  summon  his  will  power  to  assist  him  over  the 
first  few  moments  of  agony  caused  by  this  feeling. 
This  would  account  for  his  very  deliberate  manner. 


TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER  167 

almost  universally  obtaining  as  he  began  his 
discourses.  It  is  said  of  him,  when  in  Westerville, 
when  pastor  of  the  university,  that  he  arose  on  one 
occasion  to  preach.  He  read  his  text  and  under- 
took to  speak,  but  he  could  say  nothing.  He  stared 
at  the  congregation  for  a  moment,  in  what  seemed 
to  be  supreme  agony  and  fright;  then,  turning  to 
Rev.  J.  B.  Resler,  who  was  sitting  near  the  front 
of  the  church,  he  said,  "My  God,  Brother  Resler, 
start  a  hymn."  After  the  hymn,  he  dismissed  the 
congregation.  So  broken  and  discouraged  was 
he  as  a  result  of  this  experience,  that  he  intended 
to  resign  his  pastorate  and  leave  the  school,  but 
was  pursuaded  by  Mr.  Resler  to  remain,  assuring 
him  that  perseverance  would  bring  to  him  a  victory 
over  this  feeling  of  stage  fright. 

A  close  study  of  his  character  in  the  light 
of  what  has  just  been  said  revealed  the  following 
elements.  He  was  very  sensitive.  He  was  sus- 
ceptible to  the  very  slightest  sensation  about  him. 
He  responded  quickly  to  appeals  for  sympathy  or 
assistance.  No  one  ever  approached  him  for  help 
in  vain.  He  was  the  friend  of  any  one  in  distress. 
He  invariably  took  the  part  of  the  man  who  was 
down.  Once,  when  traveling  in  Virginia,  he  had 
a  negro  pastor  join  him  in  an  ordinary  day  coach. 
The  conductor,  coming  in,  said  that  the  negro 
would  have  to  leave  that  car,  as  there  was  a 
special  car  for  people  of  his  race  on  the  train. 
Bishop  Mills  said  that  the  negro  was  in  the  car 
because  he  had  asked  him  there.  The  conductor, 
however,  insisted  that  he  would  have  to  leave. 
The  Bishop  then  informed  the  conductor  that  he 
would  encounter  trouble  right  there  if  he  did  not 


168  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

leave  them  alone;  and  the  sequel  was,  the  con- 
ductor left  the  negro  minister  with  the  Bishop. 

Another  incident  is  related,  in  which  he  took 
very  positive  grounds  for  this  rejected  race.  It 
was  on  an  occasion  when,  in  a  New  York  restau- 
rant one  night,  the  Bishop  had,  as  his  guest,  one 
of  our  negro  workers  from  Africa.  The  manager 
of  the  restaurant  told  Mr.  Mills  that  they  would 
not  feed  negroes.  The  Bishop  arose,  in  his  com- 
manding way,  and  told  the  waiter  to  serve  the 
food.  After  sizing  up  the  Bishop,  he  decided  to 
go  ahead,  and  the  food  was  served,  and  our  African 
brother  from  Sierra  Leone  remained  as  his  guest 
at  the  table. 

His  sensitiveness  was  also  manifested  in 
another  direction,  for  he  felt  very  keenly  any  in-  * 
sinuation  made,  or  snub  that  might  be  given  him. 
This  feeling  caused  him  to  be  very  pronounced 
in  favor  of  his  friends  and  as  positive  against  his 
opponents.  No  one  could  oppose  him  without 
measuring,  with  the  sword  of  debate,  up  to  the 
final  issue  in  the  contest. 

Another  element  in  his  character,  closely 
associated  with  that  of  his  sensitiveness,  was  his 
mighty  intellect.  No  one  who  knew  him  will 
question  the  statement  that  he  had  a  great  brain, 
marvelously  developed.  It  was  perfectly  natural 
for  Bishop  Mills  to  think.  It  was  his  daily  meat 
and  drink.  It  was  not  a  habit;  it  was  his  life.  In 
his  thinking  he  was  so  universal  that  no  line  of 
thought  escaped  him. 

Bishop  Weekley,  in  his  words  of  appreciation, 
raises  the  question  of  the  value  of  his  universal 
reading;  but  this  universal  reading  was  only  the 


TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER  169 

outgrowth  of  an  unsatisfied  intellectual  acumen 
that  knew  no  limit.  Hence,  he  could  converse 
intellectually  on  any  subject  of  current  literature, 
or  recite  the  ancient  mythologies.  It  was  this 
intellectual  power  that  gave  him  strength  for  in- 
terpretation and  investigation  in  Latin,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  French,  German,  Spanish,  and  Italian, 
and  made  him  a  master  teacher  in  English.  In 
his  library  are  found  books  in  these  languages, 
in  which  he  delved,  searching  for  additional 
information  on  lines  of  study  that  he  had  marked 
out  for  himself.  Only  a  man  with  a  colossal  in- 
tellect could  have  mastered  what  he  did  in  his 
study.  The  books  referred  to  above  bear  his 
pencil  marks,  showing  what  he  achieved  along  these 
lines. 

Associated  with  his  study  and  investigation 
was  his  close  application  as  a  student.  One  of  the 
difficulties  in  the  educational  work  of  our  day  is 
the  lack  of  application.  Bishop  Mills  for  himself 
overcame  this  obstacle.  No  problem  was  too  great 
for  him  to  investigate.  He  did  not  think  it 
egotistical  to  delve  into  the  very  hardest  problems, 
in  the  investigation  of  which  specialists  had  given 
their  lives,  in  order  that  he  himself  might  have 
first-hand  knowledge  on  these  subjects.  Instead 
of  getting  translations  of  books  from  other  lan- 
guages, he  did  not  consider  it  a  task  too  serious  to 
master  the  language  to  the  extent  that  he  could 
interpret  the  book  himself  and  for  himself.  This 
is  restated  here  in  order  to  emphasize  the  fact  of 
his  concentration  of  mind.  Pursuing  his  way  as 
a  student,  at  the  beginning  in  the  mazes,  but, 
afterwards,  in  the  full  light  of  the  noon-day  sun 


170  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

of  knowledge,  he  arrived  at  what  satisfied  him  as 
truth,  on  many  of  the  noted  questions  of  the  day. 
Necessarily,  he  was  a  wide  reader,  and  that  oft- 
repeated  question,  as  he  traveled  here  and  there 
and  yonder,  and  met  men  in  every  station  of  hfe — 
"What  is  the  latest  book  you  have  read?" — 
became  almost  a  by-word  throughout  the  denomi- 
nation. 

One  great  element  that  he  possessed  was  his 
memory,  which  he  so  developed  that  he  seldom 
forgot  anything.  In  his  last  sickness,  when  he 
found  a  lapse  of  memory,  no  one  was  more  dis- 
turbed over  it  than  he  himself.  He  was  unwilling 
to  admit  that  there  was  any  indication  of  a  weak- 
ness in  this  respect.  His  contest  was  to  overcome 
this  tendency.  By  the  aid  of  his  memory,  he  was 
able  after  gathering  the  contents  of  a  book  on  any 
subject,  to  appropriate  it  in  his  own  thinking,  re- 
casting and  remolding  the  thought  into  his  own  lan- 
guage, and  making  it  a  part  of  his  own  thinking. 
Thus,  when  he  came  to  his  addresses,  he  would 
clothe  this  thought,  which  he  had  accepted  into 
his  own  life  as  a  part  of  his  own  thinking,  and  give 
it  forth  in  his  own  setting,  using  his  own  words 
to  emphasize  the  truth.  All  this  was  the  result 
of  his  unerring  memory.  In  conversation  with  a 
gentleman  on  one  occasion,  he  said,  "I  have  de- 
veloped the  law  of  association  in  my  thinking  in 
order  that  my  memory  may  be  aided  to  as  nearly 
the  point  of  perfection  as  possible."  No  one  can 
study  him  without  understanding  that  this  man 
knew  himself  as  nearly  perfectly  as  any  human 
being  can. 


TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER  171 

He  could  not  have  accomplished  what  he  did 
had  it  not  been  for  his  indomitable  will.  Bishop 
Mills  may  have  been  defeated,  but  was  never 
conquered.  When  he  believed  he  was  right,  he 
never  changed  his  opinion  or  position.  This 
caused  those  who  differed  with  him  to  look  upon 
him  as  stubborn  and  unyielding.  No  apology 
need  be  made  for  this  element  of  character,  for 
it  is  that  which  has  led  to  success  in  the  lives  of 
all  men  in  all  centuries  who  have  attained  to  any 
marked  degree  of  success.  It  was  the  striking 
element  in  the  life  of  President  Jackson,  and  it  was 
the  absence  of  this  that  was  the  one  weakness  in 
the  Hfe  of  Daniel  Webster.  This  will  power,  as 
has  already  been  said,  was  the  anchor  in  the  life 
of  Bishop  Mills  that  held  him  steady,  working 
out  his  purposes,  and  bringing  him,  at  last,  to  a 
place  of  triumph  and  victory.  If  we  were  to  mark 
the  greatest  weakness  in  the  elements  of  his 
character,  it  would  be  stated  in  the  word,  "im- 
petuous." Easily  stirred,  easily  annoyed,  he 
reminds  one  of  the  calm  sea,  which,  in  a  few 
moments  of  time,  is  heaped  into  a  leaping,  raging 
tempest.  This  he  fully  understood,  and,  it  was  a 
weakness  which  he  had  marked  with  a  manly 
purpose  to  overcome  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
If  critics  in  this  line  had  exerted  as  much  effort 
as  he,  possibly  the  contests,  in  which  they  found 
themselves  when  they  met  him,  would  not  have 
been  so  frequent  or  so  severely  fought  out. 

In  giving  a  description  of  Bible  characters 
on  one  occasion.  Bishop  Mills  said  that  the  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  liked  best  was 
Peter,  "because  he  was  a  big,  rough,  quick-tera- 


172  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

pered  fellow,  with  a  kind  heart,  impetuous  nature; 
but  sorry  when  he  was  wrong,  and  always  trying 
to  make  amends."  The  Bishop  said  that  he 
himself  was  just  like  Peter,  having  these  same 
characteristics,  and,  therefore,  he  liked  Peter 
best.  From  this  statement,  from  his  own  pen, 
one  can  gather  his  estimate  of  himself,  and  can 
understand  something  of  his  own  effort  to  over- 
come in  his  own  life  this  besetting  trait  of  char- 
acter. Most  beautifully  has  it  been  related  by 
his  son,  in  his  tribute  to  his  father,  how,  as  he 
came  down  near  to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  was  heard 
to  say:  "I  was  never  in  a  better  state  of  grace  to 
die.  All  the  time  I  have  been  hnng  here,  I  have 
prayed  constantly,  and  now  I  have  conquered 
my  temper,  and  I  have  conquered  my  tongue" — 
the  last  enemies  over  which  he  felt  that  a  complete 
victory  needed  to  be  won.  Let  the  critic  take 
notice  how  the  hero  won  and  died. 

The  one  element  which  stood  out  most  promi- 
nently in  the  character  of  Bishop  Mills  was  his 
unselfishness.  He  was  in  a  position  to  have 
gained  wealth  and  affluence  had  he  been  desirous 
of  gratifying  his  inclinations  for  personal  comforts, 
and  his  ambitions.  Associated,  as  he  was,  with 
men  of  influence  and  wealth,  he  could  have  entered 
several  different  fields  of  activity,  and  worked  out 
for  himself  a  line  of  achievements  that  would  have 
brought  to  him  honor,  position,  and  wealth;  but 
he  chose,  rather,  to  continue  his  work  in  his  Church, 
as  co-laborer  with  those  who  had  been  his  associates 
through  his  whole  life. 

As  a  public  speaker.  Bishop  Mills  was  peculiar. 
His  influence  over  his  audiences  was  pronounced. 


TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER  173 

Few  men  carry  the  weight  of  influence  that  he 
did  with  the  multitude.  There  was  a  seeming 
self  consciousness  in  his  address.  When  he  arose 
to  speak  he  seemed  to  study  himself,  as  well  as  the 
people  about  him,  and  one  wondered  just  what  the 
outcome  would  be.  This  trait  of  character  was 
so  manifest  that  people  who  did  not  know  him, 
but  who  were  scholarly  in  the  attainments,  ques- 
tioned whether  or  not  he  would  fail  in  his  efl'ort. 
But,  before  he  had  proceeded  very  far,  he  would 
gain  control  of  himself  and  of  the  audience,  and 
swayed  them  at  will.  He  would  pause  in  the 
midst  of  a  sentence  until  it  would  be  almost 
painful,  and  yet  that  pause  would  be  turned  to 
account  in  the  rounding  up  of  the  thought  which 
he  desired  to  express.  At  times  he  would  become 
fluent  and  eloquent.  The  inspiration  seemed  to 
come  upon  him.  Who  has  not  heard  him,  at  the 
end  of  those  periods  of  supreme  victory,  quote 
that  marvelous  Psalm: 

"Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates;  and  be  ye 
lift  up,  ye  everlasting  doors;  and  the  King  of 
glory  shall  come  in.  Who  is  this  King  of  glory  .^ 
The  Lord  strong  and  mighty,  the  Lord  mighty  in 
battle.  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates;  even  lift 
them  up,  ye  everlasting  doors;  and  the  King  of 
glory  shall  come  in.  Who  is  this  King  of  glory.? 
The  Lord  of  hosts,  he  is  the  King  of  glory." 

One  of  his  old  parishoners  said  recently  that 
this  favorite  quotation  closed  so  many  of  his  ser- 
mons while  he  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Wester- 
ville;  and,  having  heard  him  just  previous  to  his 
death,  he  again  used  this  scripture,  quoting  it  in 
the  most  impressive  manner,  convincing  the  one 


174  TRAITS  AND  CHARACTER 

who  referred  to  it  that  he  had  Hved  much  in  the 
thought  of  these  words,  and  had  brought  himself 
nearer  to  a  complete  submission  to  this  wonderful 
King,  who  was  Lord  and  Master  of  his  own  life. 


ESTIMATE  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK  BY 
HIS  COTEMPORARIES 


Chapter  X 

ESTIMATE  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK  BY 
HIS  COTEMPORARIES 

By  N.  Castle. 

;HE  Church  mourns  the  departure 
of  this  remarkable  man,  and  it  is 
well  that  he  should  be  remembered 
and  honored.  We  must  all  admit 
J-^^S|s?ij^^  how  empty  and  comfortless  are  all 
!^'^0qO\>.-^j^3  human  words,  however  fitly  spo- 
ken, at  such  a  time  as  this.  Some  sorrows 
may  be  assuaged  by  human  sympathy;  others 
must  be  suffered  in  solitude.  Gethsemane  is 
for  solitary  feet.  No  sympathizing  ones  can  go 
far  into  that  sacred  silence.  The  atmosphere  is 
too  oppressive,  and  the  loneliness  too  deep  to  be 
broken  by  any  but  a  loved  and  lonely  one.  All 
others  must  "stay  here,"  like  the  disciples  of  old, 
while  this  lone  one  "goes  yonder."  What  heart 
has  not  passed  into  that  midnight  shade  and 
cried,  "Oh,  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand,  and 
the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still." 

May  we  not  sometimes  magnify  sorrow  that 
we  desire  to  soothe,  and  for  this  reason  hesitate 
to  break  the  sacred  silence  by  hasty  footsteps, 
or  by  words  of  comfort  and  cheer  too  vocal  and 
untimely.'^  The  grief  is  too  great,  the  sorrow  too 
new,  the  wound  too  fresh  for  any  human  comfort 


178     ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

to  avail.  Alone  with  God  and  the  unseen — the 
mystic  realm  where  comfort  alone  can  be  found. 
How  empty-sounding  all  words  of  the  merely 
mortal  tongue  in  such  a  sacred  presence. 

But  while  we  admit  the  emptiness  of  human 
words  at  such  a  time,  there  come  through  the 
ages  words  full  of  meaning  and  comfort,  "The 
Eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and  underneath  are  the 
everlasting  arms." 

Public  sympathy  and  lamentation  over  the 
fall  of  personal  and  official  greatness  is  very  proper 
and  becoming.  The  valley  of  Moab  was  a  "vale 
of  tears"  when  Moses  departed.  All  Judah  and 
Jerusalem  lamented  when  Josiah  fell.  Respect 
for  the  departed  is  interwoven  with  the  very  fiber 
of  our  being.  When  one  falls  who  was  so  well 
known,  whose  character  was  so  highly  esteemed, 
and  whose  labors  were  so  extensive  and  vital  to  the 
Church  as  in  the  case  of  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  it 
becomes  no  less  a  melancholy  privilege  than  a 
sacred  duty  to  bear  witness  to  his  worth  and  the 
Church's  loss. 

Of  few  men  in  the  Church  could  it  be  said  with 
greater  emphasis  and  more  truth  than  of  him, 
"Thou  shalt  be  missed;  because  thy  seat  shall  be 
empty."  Like  Tennyson  wrote  of  his  departed 
friend,  Arthur  Hallam,  "I  weep  a  loss  forever 
new."     Whittier  says  of  another, 

"Peace  with  thee,  O  our  brother, 

In  the  spirit  land. 
Vainly  seek  we  for  another 
In  thy  place  to  stand." 

There  is  not  one  throughout  the  Church  that 
knew  Bishop  Mills,  but  confesses  to  a  sense  of  such 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     179 

a  loss.  Others  may  succeed  him  in  the  Bishop's 
office,  and  do  great  honor  to  the  office,  but  few 
can  take  his  place  in  the  peculiar  admiration  and 
affection  which  grappled  to  him  with  hooks  of 
steel  his  friends,  admirers,  and  acquaintances. 

Had  he  no  faults  and  no  weaknesses?  Cer- 
tainly he  had.  He  would  have  been  lonely  among 
us  without  them.  But  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
as  a  husband,  as  a  father,  as  a  scholar,  as  a  preacher, 
and  as  a  bishop,  he  was  a  pillar  of  strength  and  a 
fountain  of  joy.  In  days  to  come,  when  those  who 
to  him  were  dearest  sit  in  the  solitude  of  a  now 
broken  circle,  these  sweet  memories  will  come 
back  to  them  to  hallow  the  twilight  hours.  Do  we 
not  sometimes  hear  the  voices  of  our  departed 
loved  ones,  speaking  to  us  in  accents  sweeter  than 
the  Aeolian  harp,  and  there  falls  upon  us  a  spell 
we  could  not  break,  nor  would  we  if  we  could  .^^ 

As  a  student  Bishop  Mills  was  most  remark- 
able. Not  having  been  able  to  complete  a  regular 
college  curriculum,  and  not  being  of  vigorous 
health  when  young,  he  became,  nevertheless,  one 
of  the  finest  scholars  in  the  Church.  He  applied 
himself  assiduously  to  reading  and  study,  and 
thus  compensated  for  the  loss  of  educational 
training  by  systematic  habits  of  study.  He  was  a 
great  lover  of  literature,  a  student  of  books,  patient 
in  research,  persistent  in  industry,  with  wonderful 
power  of  acquisition.  Profound,  yet  like  Thomas 
Chalmers, "in  simplicity  he  was  a  child,"  a  strange 
quality  of  heart  and  life;  a  beautiful  unconscious- 
ness of  self.  He  believed  what  he  said;  and  had 
the  courage  to  say  what  he  believed.  He  was 
profoundly  sincere,  and  this  made  him   dear  to 


180    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

others.  While  he  was  humble,  he  did  not  distrust 
his  own  power,  or  hesitate  to  express  his  opinion. 

The  appeal  of  his  work  was,  to  him,  supreme. 
He  spared  not  himself;  seemed  to  care  nothing  for 
himself  as  compared  to  his  work.  His  ambition 
was  to  serve  his  Church.  Home  and  friends  never 
interfered. 

He  was  alwaj^s  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  and 
his  own  needs  for  the  good  of  others.  The  word 
"service"  defined  his  life  and  mission.  He  was 
firm  but  not  obstinate;  helpful  but  not  officious. 
He  was  not  only  a  great  thinker,  he  was  a  great 
teacher.  He  found  time  amidst  the  cares  of  a 
busy  career  to  read  miscellaneous  literature.  He 
soon  and  easily  mastered  a  book  and  then  passed 
it  on. 

He  was  careful  and  faithful  in  the  details  of 
his  work,  untiring  in  his  preparation  for  pulpit 
and  platform;  patient  and  courteous  toward  all, 
even  those  differing  with  him;  mild  in  manner  and 
conservative  of  feeling  in  his  association  with  the 
lowly  in  culture  and  manner  of  living,  thus  making 
friends  of  all.  In  him  the  poor  had  an  advocate, 
the  oppressed  an  ally,  and  the  penniless  a  friend. 

He  was  clear  in  his  processes  of  thought, 
earnest  and  forceful  in  speech;  his  was  the  elo- 
quence of  persuasion.  Rhetorical  embellishments 
adorned  his  utterances,  but  were  rendered  largely 
useless  by  the  force  of  conviction. 

He  had  a  judicial  turn  of  mind,  which  served 
him  and  the  Church  in  a  masterful  way.  His 
natural  analytical  faculty,  sharpened  by  years  of 
ample  practice,  enabled  him  to  uncover  a  moral 
and  scientific  principle  from  a  mass  of  sophistry. 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     181 

extract  truth  from  any  web  of  accidental  or  extra- 
neous circumstances,  and  hold  it  up  in  the  clear, 
pure  light  of  reason. 

Thus,  he  wrought  conscientiously  and  scrup- 
ulously, desiring,  and  bravely  determining  to  do 
what  his  deliberative  judgment  decided  was  right. 
He  listened  to  the  reasonings  of  others,  but  was 
guided  by  his  own  reason.  No  corrupt  motive 
influenced  his  administrative  work.  He  brought 
to  the  office  of  bishop  an  enlightened  intellect  by 
broad  and  careful  study,  which  made  his  services 
invaluable  to  the  board  and  the  Church.  It  is  not 
strange  that  his  efforts  challenged  favorable  com- 
ment, and  early  placed  him  among  the  best  ad- 
ministrators that  the  Church  has  ever  had. 

He  was  more  a  Christian  than  a  churchman, 
and  yet  he  was  unquestionably^  loyal  to  his  denomi- 
nation. He  kept  the  lofty  plane  of  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  sought  the  largest  possible 
unity  of  the  whole  family  of  God.  He  would  not 
stoop  to  the  petty  arts  of  a  narrow  ecclesiasticism 
to  build  his  own  Church.  This  fully  verified  in  the 
part  he  bore  in  the  tri-councils  held  in  the  recent 
past,  and  in  the  marvelous  address  which  he 
prepared  for  delivery  at  the  last  General  Con- 
ference. No  comment  is  needed  on  that  address. 
It  challenged  the  admiration  of  the  whole  Church 
when  dehvered  in  his  lifetime,  and  now  at  this 
side  of  his  grave  all  unite  to  bestow  deserving  and 
well-earned  eulogies  upon  him  and  his  work. 

Was  he  a  successful  pastor.^  Let  the  charges 
he  served,  some  of  the  very  best  in  the  denomi- 
nation, answer.  Was  he  a  successful  teacher.^ 
Let   the   hundreds   of   college   students   and    the 


182    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

hundreds  of  preachers  and  pastors  through  the 
Church  answer.  Was  he  a  successful  Bishop? 
Let  the  hundreds  of  conference  sessions  held  in 
this  and  foreign  countries  answer.  Was  he  suc- 
cessful as  a  parliamentarian  and  an  administrator 
of  law.'*  Let  the  many  boards  on  which  he  served 
through  the  Church  answer. 

His  life  was  charming  with  kindly  words, 
generous  deeds,  thoughtful  action,  and  friendly 
smiles.  These  may  be  common  things  to  name, 
but  true  character  is  largety  a  composite  of  such 
things.  These  small  things,  if  you  wish  to  so  call 
them,  make  or  unmake  the  life. 

He  was  scrupulously  honest.  No  ill-gotten 
gain  clung  to  his  fingers.  He  knew  that  no  man 
was  ever  rich  by  what  he  stole.  His  friends  were 
not  confined  to  his  associates  in  office,  to  those 
regarded  as  hfs  peers,  but  were  found  among  those 
in  humblest  birth  and  plainest  homes  as  well.  He 
could  kneel  beside  the  poorest  and  most  unlettered, 
forgetful  that  any  dignity  attached  to  him  that 
would  separate  him  from  the  humblest  follower  of 
the  lowly  Nazarene.  While  he  sometimes  seemed 
imperious,  he  was  withal  gentle,  and  there  beat 
within  that  manly  breast  a  heart  as  tender  as  that 
of  a  woman's.  He  had  a  head  always  cool,  and  a 
heart  always  warm.  Preacher  or  layman,  ditcher 
or  dignitary,  cobbler  or  congressman,  porter  or 
president,  bishop  or  baker,  he  would  have  been  the 
same. 

To  speak  of  him  as  a  friend,  would  be  to  open 
thousands  of  floodgates  through  which  would  pour 
a  lachrymal  sea.  To  thousands,  he  was  a  father 
in  tenderness  of  counsel,  a  brother  in  promptitude 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     183 

of  aid.  Deep  in  his  bosom  were  rooted  the  rare 
quaHties  of  unspeakable  affection,  and  when  he 
was  carried  away  in  his  coffin  the  affection  of 
thousands  of  hearts  went  with  him. 

As  a  Christian  and  a  minister,  he  beheved  in 
the  great  fundamentals  of  Christianity.  He 
planted  his  feet  firmly  on  the  doctrine  of  immor- 
tality. With  him,  if  immortality  was  not  a  fact, 
then  life  is  a  hideous  absurdity.  He  believed  in 
the  divine  nature  of  the  Savior.  He  believed  in 
the  Galilean  carpenter.  He  believed  if  ever  man 
was  God,  or  God  man,  Jesus  was  both.  Cultured 
as  he  was,  he  did  not  believe  that  culture  could 
cure  sin;  he  believed  in  the  remedy  divine.  So  he 
lived  and  so  he  died,  trusting  in  the  infinite  merits 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 

If  to  live  in  hearts  we  leave  behind  is  not  to 
die,  then  Bishop  Mills  is  not  dead.  He  lives  in 
the  memory  of  thousands  of  hearts.  He  needs  no 
other  monument  to  perpetuate  his  name.  There 
are  statues  of  bronze  and  marble,  gilded  like  the 
sunset  sky,  or  white  like  the  snow  on  an  untra versed 
mountain,  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  departed. 
There  are  graveyards  where  storied  urn  rehearse 
the  virtues  of  the  sleepers  underneath.  The  lofty 
shaft  that  marks  the  resting  place  of  some  loved 
one  on  the  shore  of  the  restless  sea;  the  stately 
mausoleum  at  Springfield,  that  contains  the  ashes 
of  the  martyred  Abraham  Lincoln;  the  costly 
tomb  on  Euclid  Avenue,  in  Ohio's  city  by  the 
lake,  that  guards  the  precious  dust  of  the  immortal 
Garfield;  the  vault  under  the  weeping  willows  of 
Mt.  Vernon  on  the  Potomac,  where  repose  the 
bones  of  Washington,  our  George  the  First — all  are 


184    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

monuments  of  art,  whose  fame  will  be  long  lasting. 
But  these  will  perish  sometime.  Even  that  said 
to  be  the  tallest  monument  on  earth,  erected  to 
the  memory  of  the  Father  of  our  Country,  will 
crumble  to  dust.  In  Trafalgar  Square,  Lord 
Nelson  is  held  in  memory,  and  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  England's  mighty  dead  are  on  marble 
slabs,  beneath  your  feet.  All  over  this  earth 
monuments  are  built  to  the  memory  of  our  mighty 
dead. 

Wliere  shall  we  build  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  this  servant  of  Jesus  Christ?  Out  of 
what  material  shall  we  make  it.'^  Bronze  will 
corrode,  and  marble  will  molder.  To  what  country 
do  his  labors  belong?  Shall  we  build  it  in  Palestine 
not  far  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea?  Or  shall  we  build  it  in  China,  or  Japan,  or 
the  Philippine  Islands,  or  in  Africa,  or  in  America? 
May  not  Africa  have  first  claim?  Was  it  not  there 
that  he  virtually  laid  down  his  life?  He  came  home 
from  that  country  never  to  be  well  again.  If  we 
were  to  build  a  material  monument  to  his  memory, 
we  should  need  one  on  many  a  mountain  side,  in 
many  a  verdant  vale,  one  in  many  a  park  and 
flower-garden,  in  many  a  thronging  and  crowded 
city,  in  many  a  little  town  and  quiet  village,  as 
well  as  country  neighborhood. 

Where,  then,  shall  we  build  this  monument? 
Never  again  on  earth  shall  we  see  his  manly  form. 
Never  again  will  he  bow  and  raise  his  hat,  and 
shake  hands  as  he  was  always  wont  to  do  in  street, 
and  home,  and  hall,  and  church.  May  I  answer 
the  question,  where?  He  has  answered  it  himself, 
He  has  already  built  his  own  monument.     He  has 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     185 

built  it  in  the  undying  souls  he  has  helped  on  and 
up  to  heaven.  Many  of  the  things  that  our 
friend  and  brother  achieved  of  an  earthly  nature 
will  fade  and  wither  away,  but  every  atom  he 
wrought  into  the  slowly  rising  monument  of  a  life 
redeemed  to  goodness,  will  survive  the  floods  and 
fires  of  time.  Winter  snows  will  drift  above  his 
grave,  warm  spring-time  rains  will  woo  the  flowers 
from  the  sod  that  covers  him,  summer  suns  and 
autumn  winds  with  blooming  flower  will  weave 
above  him  wreathes  of  green  and  gold;  but  he  will 
live  on,  and  in  many  a  mind  will  abide  the  recol- 
lection of  his  words  and  works. 

Did  we  love  him. ^  This  I  need  not  tell.  Then 
let  us  emulate  and  imitate  those  graces  that 
distinguished  him.  I  address  you  Christians, 
members  of  this  Church  who  have  worshiped  with 
him  and  have  bowed  with  him  in  prayer,  and  have 
knelt  with  him  at  the  sacramental  altar;  I  address 
you  and  admonish  you,  by  the  speedy  coming  of 
the  guest  whom  few  invite,  whom  all  must  enter- 
tain— death — and  by  the  approaching  judgment, 
that  as  you  loved  him  in  life,  respect  and  honor 
him  now,  by  trusting  now  and  always  his  God, 
our  God,  and  our  father's  God. 

Here  we  say  our  good-by — our  "God  be  with 
you" — till  in  the  purple  East  the  morning  dawns, 
and  the  death  shadows  flee  away.  Why  our 
Bishop,  brother,  friend,  lover  was  taken,  and 
others,  "cumberers  of  the  ground,"  remain,  we 
do  not  know. 

As  we  pay  tribute  to  our  departed  brother, 
we  easily  recall  how  he  stood  by  our  side  and 
helped  to  bear  the  burdens  of  our  Church  through 


186    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

some  of  its  hardest  struggles,  filling  with  efficiency 
the  high  office  of  bishop.  We  think  of  him  now 
no  longer  amid  the  struggles  of  earth,  but  amid 
the  joys  of  heaven;  no  longer  fighting  the  battles 
which  he  believed  important  to  the  Church,  but 
wearing  a  crown,  and  at  home  in  the  city  of  God. 
His  life  was  a  great  success,  and  his  death  a  great 
victory. 

By  G.  M.  Mathews. 

The  removal  from  earth  of  a  great  Christian 
leader  and  toiler,  like  Bishop  Mills,  to  human 
judgment,  seems  a  pathetic  event;  and  yet,  death 
has  its  mission  in  human  experience.  It  closes 
the  gate  to  suffering  and  gives  immunity  to  the 
sufferer.  It  buries  in  oblivion  all  infirmities,  and 
canonizes  all  virtues.  It  breaks  the  downward 
pull  of  life,  and  enables  the  liberated  soul  to  rise 
to  the  heights  of  life  immortal. 

Such  an  event,  overtaking  a  noble  Christian 
leader  so  early,  is  mysterious  and  perplexing; 
and  yet  God  sees  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
His  thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts,  and  his 
ways  are  not  as  our  ways.  Now  we  know  in  part, 
then  shall  we  know  even  as  we  are  known.  Down 
in  the  valley,  the  mists  of  ignorance  envelop  us. 
The  summits  above  us  are  radiant  with  heavenly 
light.  Until  we  reach  those  heights,  our  refuge 
is  in  God's  infinite  holiness  and  unerring  goodness 
and  widsom.  We  humbly  bow  before  his  soverign 
will  and  wait  for  the  clearer,  fuller  light. 

I  was  not  so  well  acquainted  with  Bishop 
Mills  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry  in  the 
Church.     My    knowledge    of    his    commendable 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     187 

qualities  came  through  intimate  association  with 
him  in  the  work  of  the  general  superintendency 
of  our  Church.  Bishop  Mills  was  a  commanding 
figure  in  every  assembly.  His  attractive  presence 
was  always  recognized  because  of  his  superb 
physique,  and  air  of  leadership.  High  culture 
had  added  much  to  the  rich  endowments  of  nature. 
His  carriage  invariably  indicated  unwavering  de- 
termination, and  inflexibility  of  purpose.  Once 
entering  upon  a  chosen  course  of  procedure,  he 
never  faltered  or  fainted  in  that  course.  His 
posit iveness  was  very  marked.  No  one  was  ever 
in  doubt  on  which  side  to  find  him  in  a  given 
contest.  He  stood  squarely  and  courageously  in 
the  advocacy  of  the  principle  or  cause  he  espoused ; 
it  was  difficult  ever  to  deflect  him  from  that 
course. 

Bishop  Mills  possessed  masterful  leadership. 
He  was  a  man  of  vision,  with  the  power  to  carry  it 
towards  its  realization.  He  was  always  in  the 
front  rank  of  aggressive  leadership.  Sometimes, 
he  was  in  peril  of  carrying  this  aggressive  leadership 
to  rashness,  and  yet  his  tremendous  energy  was 
his  tower  of  strength.  He  was  no  timeserver  or 
laggard.  In  the  denomination,  this  positive  force 
made  him  a  leader,  which  all  his  peers  recognized. 
This  commandership  was  not  confined  to  narrow 
limits,  but  was  recognized  outside  of  his  denomi- 
nation. 

His  equipment  was  broad  and  versatile.  He 
was  not  a  man  of  one  idea.  It  was  impossible  for 
him  to  live  a  circumscribed  life.  No  environment 
could  bind  him  into  supine  mental  servitude,  as 
against  liberty  of  thought  and  freedom  of  action. 


188     ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

He  lived  in  different  worlds  of  thought  and  medi- 
tation. He  breathed  the  free  air  of  theology, 
science,  history,  psychology,  apologetics  and 
devotional  study.  This  enriched  his  active  mind, 
and  gave  him  unusual  versatihty  of  conviction  and 
statement.  One  could  not  mingle  at  any  time 
with  him  without  discovering  his  ardent  love  for 
books,  even  the  very  best.  This  led  him,  in  the 
years,  to  erect  a  magnificently  selected  library, 
containing  the  finest  productions  of  the  up-to-date 
authors  extant. 

He  carefully  studied  the  history  of  the  origin, 
growth,  polity,  and  distinctive  spirit  of  his  de- 
nomination, and  spoke  with  accuracy  and  authority 
upon  all  subjects  pertaining  thereto. 

As  pastor,  professor,  college  president,  and 
Bishop,  he  was  unusual  in  his  intellectual  endow- 
ments and  trained  mental  powers. 

He  possessed  marvelous  will-power.  In  this 
respect,  he  may  be  classed  with  those  who  have 
reached  the  true  aim  and  goal  of  education;  namely, 
the  development  of  the  human  will  into  such 
strength  and  tenacity  that  enables  it  to  put  the 
whole  being  under  adequate  motives  of  service 
and  action.  In  this,  Bishop  Mills  attained  far 
toward  the  highest  goal  of  education.  His  will 
was  the  throne  of  his  peculiar  power. 

Bishop  Mills  was  a  strong  thinker  and  preach- 
er. He  not  only  possessed  thoughts  and  ideas, 
but  also  handled  them  with  grace  and  self-poise 
before  an  audience.  He  was  an  intellectual  rather 
than  an  emotional  preacher.  And  yet,  he  was 
always  careful  to  emphazise  the  spiritual  by 
differentiating  between  that  and  the   emotional. 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     189 

Whenever  he  spoke,  one  felt  that  an  unusual 
thinker  was  speaking.  His  lectures,  sermons, 
writings,  books  always  reflected  the  workings  of 
an  active,  original,  cultured  brain. 

Above  all,  and  better  than  all.  Bishop  Mills 
was  a  Christian.  His  colossal  Christian  character 
rose  high  and  was  abiding.  He  held,  to  the  end, 
evangelical,  biblical  truth  and  interpretation.  He 
believed  in  God,  and  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  eternal  life  and  felicity  in  Jesus  Christ,  to- 
gether with  the  doctrine  of  personal  accountability 
and  the  judgment;  and  he  preached  those  biblical 
truths  with  positiveness  and  power.  He  eloquent- 
ly presented  the  glories  of  the  immortal  life  into 
which  he  had  an  abundant,  triumphant  entrance. 

We  greatly  miss  him  because  of  his  individu- 
ality, so  different  from  others;  and  for  what  he 
might  yet  have  accomplished  on  earth.  The 
Church  has  a  sense  of  poverty  in  his  absence. 

He  is  gone,  but  his  light  is  not  out.  Astron- 
omers tell  us  that  there  are  stars  so  far  away  that 
if  blotted  out  would  shine  on  for  many  years.  So 
Bishop  Mills,  our  distinguished  and  lamented 
associate,  is  still  alive,  and  will  continue  to  shine 
in  the  realms  of  the  blest  forever  and  ever.  His 
memory  is  blessed. 

By  W.  M.  Weekley. 

As  Bishop  Jonathan  Weaver  was  of  the 
Abraham  Lincoln  type,  and  Bishop  E.  B.  Kephart 
of  the  Senator  Allison  make-up,  so  Bishop  J.  S. 
Mills  resembled  Daniel  Webster.  Many  of  the 
characteristics  of  that  great  constructive  states- 
man were  prominent  in  the  life  of  the  late  Bishop. 


190    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

Like  Webster,  he  was  profound  in  research. 
No  man  in  the  Church,  and  but  few  anywhere  else 
read  as  many  books  as  he  did.  He  understood 
the  art  of  going  through  a  volume  rapidly,  and  of 
getting  the  gist  of  what  it  contained.  Whatever 
his  policy  of  reading  or  perusing  so  many  publi- 
cations was,  it  need  not  be  discussed  in  this  con- 
nection, but  it  is  well  known  that  he  kept  himself 
in  touch  with  everything  that  transpired  in  the 
religious  and  literary  worlds.  It  was  difficult  to 
speak  of  a  book  or  magazine  that  he  did  not  know 
something  about,  and  in  most  instances  he  could 
give  the  author,  publisher,  and  price.  Like 
Webster,  he  often  formulated  illustrations  while 
hurriedly  going  through  a  book,  that  he  did  not 
use  till  years  afterward,  but  at  the  proper  time 
utilized  it  with  telling  effect. 

His  mind  was  philosophical.  His  power  of 
deduction  and  analysis  was  rare.  He  knew  how 
to  read  between  the  lines,  and  to  apprehend  implied 
truths.  Even  when  wrong  in  his  conclusions, 
like  Webster,  he  was  hard  to  dislodge  from  his 
position,  as  he  never  failed  to  fortify  it  with  the 
strongest  arguments  to  be  had.  He  came  to  every 
discussion  with  elaborate  and  complete  prep- 
aration. 

Like  W'ebster,  he  alwaj^s  spoke  with  a  posi- 
tiveness  and  emphasis  which  impressed  his  hearers 
with  his  sincerity  and  honesty  of  conviction. 
While  he  did  not  possess  Mr.  W^ebster's  remarkable 
gift  of  oratory,  and  lacked  somewhat  in  the 
elements  of  humor  and  pathos,  he,  nevertheless, 
was  one  of  the  most  convincing  pulpiteers  the 
Church  ever  produced.     Lie  was  not  wordy,  but 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     191 

his  utterances  carried  weight  and  conviction. 
His  very  presence  on  the  floor  of  a  conference,  or 
any  other  pubHc  assembly,  was  the  signal  for 
attention.  He  possessed  the  gift  of  leadership 
in  a  remarkable  degree.  He  was  bold  in  his  con- 
ceptions, vigorous  in  execution,  and  unflinching 
in  the  face  of  the  gravest  responsibilities.  He 
loved  to  work,  and,  as  naturally  sought  activity 
as  a  growing  plant  seeks  light  and  air.  The  truth 
is,  the  burdens  he  assured  in  his  later  life  were  too 
heavy;  his  intense  zeal  for  the  Church  carried  him 
beyond  his  strength,  and  hastened  the  consum- 
mation of  a  career  which  ought  to  have  continued 
many  years. 

Bishop  Mills  measured  up  to  the  requirements 
of  whatever  office  he  assumed.  The  church  has 
no  severer  test  of  a  man's  ability  than  service  in 
a  general  office.  The  reputation  previously  ac- 
quired does  not  count  for  a  great  deal.  But  little 
mercy  is  shown  for  the  feelings  and  failures  of 
beginners.  Success  is  won  by  sheer  force  of 
character,  and  dint  of  toil.  If  he  fails,  no  sym- 
pathy awaits  him  in  the  ranks.  Here  the  survival 
of  the  strongest,  as  a  rule,  is  recognized.  Pretense 
and  glamour  cannot  deceive  and  mislead. 

But  no  test  was  too  severe  for  the  Bishop. 
No  matter  where  or  how  the  plumb  line  of  efficiency 
was  applied,  he  was  full  grown. 

For  nearly  a  third  of  a  century,  I  knew  J.  S. 
Mills,  and  found  his  companionship  most  congenial. 
For  twenty  years,  we  were  associated  most  inti- 
mately. We  did  not  always  agree  on  everything. 
No  two  men  will  who  think  independently,  but  I 
found    him    gentlemanly    and    brotherly    in    his 


192     ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

bearing,   willing  to   listen,   and   when   convinced, 
ready  to  yield. 

It  will  be  a  long  while  before  the  denomination 
will  produce  another  such  character,  so  highly 
gifted  in  so  many  ways,  and  who  will  leave  his 
impress  so  thoroughly  stamped  upon  every  ag- 
gressive movement  of  the  Church. 

By  W.  M.  Bell. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Mills 
parallels  his  election  to  the  bishopric,  which  took 
place  at  the  General  Conference  held  at  Dayton, 
Ohio,  in  1893.  The  fact  that,  at  the  same  General 
Conference,  the  writer  was  selected  for  the  sec- 
retaryship of  the  missionary  department,  brought 
immediate  contact  with  this  superior  officer  in 
the  general  work  of  the  denomination.  The  good 
Bishop  was  just  then  coming  into  the  fullness  of 
his  power,  and  the  struggles  through  which  he 
had  made  his  way  to  distinction  were  all  too  likely 
to  be  overlooked,  in  view  of  the  manifest  strength 
of  the  stalwart  churchman. 

It  was  almost  impossible  to  realize  that  this 
giant  in  ecclesiastical  life  had  come  up  through 
much  and  harassing  physical  weakness,  which 
to  one  less  courageous  would  have  meant  the 
abandonment  of  the  ministry  entirely.  His 
emergence  from  painful  and  discouraging  physical 
infirmities  to  such  rugged  and  royal  manliness, 
discloses  the  essential  power  of  the  man.  Here  at 
once  is  the  key  to  the  whole  life  and  character 
of  the  really  great  clergyman.  For  one  of  such 
notable  strength  to  have  had  all  his  life  the  ad- 
vantage of  high  grade  physical  power  and   per- 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     193 

fection  would  be  the  logical  deduction,  but  the 
conquest  made  over  weakness  by  sheer  persistence 
of  will,  reflected  the  type  of  this  noble  personality. 
In  the  order  in  which  the  characteristics  were 
disclosed  to  the  writer,  they  will  be  discussed. 

1 .  The  Strong  and  Commanding  Personality. — 
One  only  needed  to  be  about  Bishop  Mills  for  a 
short  time  to  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  he 
based  his  actions  and  attitudes  on  positive  con- 
victions. Whatever  one  might  think  of  the 
opinions  of  the  Bishop,  of  one  thing  he  was  im- 
mediately assured,  and  that  was  that  the  Bishop 
never  reached  a  conclusion  or  announced  an 
opinion  until  he  had  been  exercised  in  such  mental 
processes  as  to  his  mode  of  thinking  made  his 
pronounced  judgment  the  only  one  with  which 
the  man  could  be  satisfied,  and  assured  of  his  own 
self-respect.  He  thought  with  such  intensity  as 
to  make  his  advocacy  an  element  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  the  outcome  of  any  presentation  for  action 
before  a  deliberative  body  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  He  always  counted  more  than  one  in 
any  debate  in  which  he  participated.  Tall  and 
commanding  in  figure,  he  also  towered  in  argument 
and  discussion. 

His  intellectual  method  was  direct,  and  he 
was  impatient  with  what  he  might  regard  as 
subterfuge  or  evasion.  One  understands  better 
now,  that  when  he  dwelt  among  us,  how  inevitable 
it  was  that  at  times  the  impression  should  be  made 
that  he  was  a  merciless  opponent  and  critic.  He 
reached  conclusions  quickly,  and  in  such  rapidity 
of  mental  action  that  he  illustrated  the  principle 
in  mechanics  that  the  first  result  of  motion  is  heat. 


194    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

Reviewing  him,  now  after  his  absence  from  us  for 
these  months  and  years,  he  appears  more  colossal 
with  the  lapse  of  time.  What  a  glorious  friend 
and  advocate  he  was,  how  like  a  prince  he  moved 
among  his  fellows.  He  was  a  giant  well  at  home  in 
the  twentieth  century. 

2.  The  Ardent  Intellectualist. — Bishop  Mills 
exemplified,  as  but  few  men  comparatively  have 
been  able  to  do,  a  high  type  of  adult  mental 
alertness.  It  is  in  evidence  all  about  us  that  far 
too  many  people,  who  have  been  fairly  alert  while 
in  student  life,  abate  their  intellectual  devotion 
and  activity  when  once  they  have  reached  the 
period  of  settled  life  and  occupation.  That  man 
will  be  a  benefactor  of  his  race  who  shall  devise  a 
curriculum  for  adults  after  the  school  period  which 
will  so  appeal  to  them  as  to  keep  them  in  the  field 
for  continuous  mental  growth.  It  was  evident  to 
the  friends  and  acquaintances  of  the  Bishop  that 
whatever  were  his  natural  tendencies,  he  held  him- 
self strictly  to  schedule  in  the  upward  march  of 
his  mental  life  and  attainments.  Special  courses 
of  study  were  undertaken  and  conquered  with  a 
marvelous  avidity,  and  books  were  his  constant 
companions.  One  never  could  be  in  his  presence 
for  any  length  of  time  without  an  inquiry  as  to 
what  books  had  been  read  and  with  what  measures 
of  interest  and  satisfaction.  His  fondness  for 
study  was  one  of  his  most  noteworthy  character- 
istics. He  was  not  only  a  student  of  books  and 
literature,  but  of  human  nature  as  well.  He  was 
capable  as  a  discerner  of  human  nature. 

3.  The  Splendid  Traveler  and  Companion. — 
It  was  the  writer's  privilege  to  journey  often  with 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     195 

the  Bishop.  He  was  always  vivacious,  observing, 
courteous,  versatile,  and,  withal,  companionable. 
His  wide  reading  and  fullness  of  knowledge  gave 
him  ready  ability  to  converse  about  countries, 
peoples,  and  all  matters  that  are  always  coming 
in  modern  travel.  He  was  a  keen  observer,  and 
it  was  always  a  delight  to  close  the  day  with 
conversation  as  to  what  had  been  seen  and  learned 
during  the  day. 

He  was  patient  with  travel  discomfits  and 
uncertainties  to  a  remarkable  degree.  His  self- 
control  was  made  apparent  on  a  sea  voyage  to 
Porto  Rico.  About  five  hundred  miles  off  Cape 
Hatteras,  the  machinery  of  our  otherwise  well- 
behaved  steamer  broke  down,  and  for  well  nigh 
a  half  day  we  were  helplessly  adrift,  much  to  the 
confusion  and  unhappiness  of  almost  all  on  board. 
The  officers  and  crew  would  give  out  no  information 
as  to  how  serious  the  break  was,  and  to  cap  the 
climax  the  southern  sky  was  covered  with  massive 
clouds,  betokening  an  approaching  storm  of  un- 
certain magnitude  and  intensity.  All  afternoon 
the  passengers  paced  the  deck,  among  them  the 
writer  and  the  Bishop's  son,  Alfred  K.  Mills.  We 
missed  the  Bishop  from  the  deck,  and  finally  went 
in  quest  of  him,  only  to  find  him  sound  asleep  in 
his  state  room.  When  we  had  aroused  him  and 
expressed  our  surprise  at  his  being  able  to  sleep 
under  such  trying  circumstances,  he  coolly  replied, 
"I  am  in  no  way  responsible  for  our  situation,  and, 
since  the  matter  is  beyond  my  control,  I  propose 
to  rest  and  bide  the  time."  While  we  were  at  the 
evening  meal,  the  machinery  of  the  great  ship  began 


196    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

to  move,  and  we  were  off  and  away,  to  the  joy  of 
all  the  passengers. 

The  writer  can  never  efface  the  memory  of 
the  days  in  which  the  good  Bishop  was  a  guest  in 
his  home  at  Berkeley,  California,  en  route  to  the 
Orient  in  what  proved  to  be  his  last  trip  abroad. 
He  was  an  interesting  guest  to  all  in  the  home,  and 
the  leisure  of  those  sweet  days  gave  opportunity 
for  rare  communions  and  most  delightful  discussions. 
We  saw  him  aboard  the  Nippon  Maru,  and  gave 
him  reluctantly  to  the  great  sea. 

4.  The  Genial  Host  and  Loyal  Friend. — It 
was  difficult  to  avoid  being  entertained  by  Bishop 
Mills.  If  on  a  journey,  he  was  never  satisfied 
until  he  had  made  all  in  company  with  him  his 
guests.  If  in  reach  of  his  home,  he  would  not  be 
refused  if  he  invited  one  to  his  home;  and,  when 
once  there,  the  old  time  hospitality,  in  which  Mrs. 
Mills  so  graciously  joined  the  Bishop,  was  at  once 
extended.  He  seemed  to  be  never  so  happy  as 
when  he  was  serving  as  host  in  his  own  home.  His 
hospitality  was  of  the  hearty  and  informal  type, 
and  a  quest  was  at  once  at  ease,  as  if  in  his  own 
home.  He  was  the  ideal  host,  and  to  share  his 
home  life,  even  for  a  brief  period,  was  an  event 
never  to  be  forgotten.  Then,  what  a  friend  he 
was.  With  him,  friendship  was  no  empty  senti- 
ment, but  was  the  love  bond  which  no  vicissitude 
of  time  could  change  or  cancel.  It  was  an  essential 
part  of  his  religion  to  be  true  to  his  friends,  and  he 
was  never  happier  than  when  he  was  having  an 
opportunity  to  prove  his  friendship  as  genuine 
and  true.  He  counted  on  his  friends  being  true, 
and  he  would  himself  be  true  at  all  cost. 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     197 

5.  TJie  Loyal  Churchman  and  Servant  of  the 
Kingdom. — The  institutions  of  the  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ  had  in  Bishop  Mills 
a  zealous  friend  and  supporter.  Any  contribution 
he  could  make  of  time,  service,  or  money,  was 
made  with  such  complete  abandon  and  good  cheer 
as  to  make  his  example  contagious.  He  was  an 
especial  friend  to  our  educational  work,  and 
brought  to  its  management  the  keenest  interest 
and  concern.  He  never  failed  to  encourage  young 
men  and  women  to  enter  our  educational  insti- 
tutions and  make  the  fullest  possible  preparation 
for  the  work  of  life.  He  believed  in  generous  and 
progressive  policies  for  all  of  our  institutions. 

He  was  broad  minded  and  public  spirited. 
It  would  have  been  easy  for  him  to  have  given 
himself  to  the  career  of  the  statesman,  for  all 
social  and  political  questions  were  of  deep  interest 
to  him.  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  that  kingdom,  in  his  conception,  was  as  wide 
as  the  race  in  its  purpose  and  scope.  He  conceived 
the  kingdom  as  determining  the  ultimate  social 
order.  He  was  a  constant  student  of  sociology, 
and  gave  out  his  findings  with  wisdom  and  power. 
He  took  the  greatest  delight  in  emphasizing  the 
social  message  and  import  of  the  Christian  gospel. 
He  had  dreams  and  visions  of  things  as  they  should 
be,  and  rested  not  in  things  as  they  were.  His 
eagle  eye  caught  the  light  from  the  hills  of  God,  and 
in  that  light  he  formed  this  program  and  ordered 
his  goings.  He  was  a  real  reformer  without  ever 
for  a  moment  losing  sweetness  or  hope.  If  he 
could  not  get  all  men  to  see  as  he  saw  in  regard  to 
policies  and  measures,  he,  nevertheless,  kept  on 


198     ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

his  upward  way,  being  well  assured  that  at  the  last 
the  best  would  be  crowned.  He  was  a  lover  of 
high  aims  and  challenging  programs  and  invariably 
he  was  a  prophet  of  the  better  order.  If  the  way 
seemed  dark  and  lowering,  he  would  persist  in  a 
song  of  triumph,  and  hold  on  for  the  break  of  day. 
His  faith  was  of  the  optimistic  sort,  and  he  could 
more  readily  command  the  enthusiasm  of  his 
great  heart  for  a  challenging  program  than  for  an 
abbreviated  one.  He  believed  that  generous 
things  were  justified  for  the  Church  of  his  choice, 
and  reckoned  that  all  her  policies  should  be  broad 
gauge  and  ample.     May  his  greatness  inspire  us  all. 

By  T.  C.  Carter. 

Few  men  in  the  history  of  our  Church  have 
been  more  widely  known  or  more  greatly  honored 
than  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills;  and  few  have  merited  the 
consideration  of  the  whole  denomination  in  great- 
er measure  than  he.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to 
share  his  noble  friendship,  and  by  years  of  close 
official  relations  and  personal  fellowship,  I  came 
to  know  him  well.  As  I  have  studied  the  qualities 
which  distinguished  him,  his  manly  proportions 
have  grown  upon  me;  and  while  I  can  but  im- 
perfectly express  my  conception  of  his  character 
and  characteristics,  I  regard  him  as  one  of  the 
greatest  men  in  our  history.  A  few  of  the  domi- 
nant elements  which  so  strikingly  marked  his 
career,  I  venture  to  recount: 

1.  Bishop  Mills  had  a  commanding  and 
majestic  personality.  His  tall,  portly  figure,  and 
his  stately  bearing  fulfilled  the  popular  conception 
which   is   always   associated   with   high   position. 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK     199 

Wherever  he  appeared — on  the  platform,  in  the 
pulpit,  in  conference  or  convention,  in  social 
circles  or  on  the  street,  he  was  always  conspicuous 
and  impressive  in  the  splendor  of  his  rare  personal 
endowment.  His  very  walk,  his  first  appearance, 
told  the  stranger  that  he  was  no  ordinary  man. 
Erect  in  form,  his  countenance  animated,  his  eye 
at  times  intensely  piercing,  the  tread  of  a  giant 
marking  his  physical  movements,  men  turned 
instinctively  and  looked  at  him  with  that  sort  of 
deference  that  is  always  shown  to  the  man  of 
great  distinction. 

2.  Bishop  Mills  was  a  man  of  charming  social 
qualities.  He  met  his  friends  with  a  frank  and 
cordial  greeting,  and  in  politeness  he  was  a  Chester- 
field. Gentility  seemed  as  natural  to  him  as 
breathing,  and  in  no  circle  of  life  did  the  practice 
of  good  manners  ever  desert  him.  He  was  as 
gallant  and  courtly  in  the  homes  of  rural  people 
as  he  was  in  the  drawing  rooms  of  the  great  city, 
and  these  refined  and  polished  qualities  made  a 
profound  impression  wherever  he  mingled  with 
his  fellow  men. 

3.  Bishop  Mills  was  a  man  of  superior  in- 
tellectual qualities.  His  mind  was  characterized 
by  robust  vigor.  He  stood  up  before  the  Church 
as  a  scholar  and  thinker  worthy  of  its  honor.  He 
was  mentally  a  hard  worker,  and  whatever  he 
lost  by  tlie  disadvantages  of  early  youth  in  the 
opportunity  to  gain  knowledge,  he  more  than 
made  up  by  his  persistent  studies  in  manhood. 
With  tireless  energy,  he  pursued  those  lines  of 
reading  and  research  which  broadened  his  scholar- 
ship and  made  him  at  home  in  the  company  of 


200    ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

the  learned  and  philosophical.  He  was  a  great 
student  of  the  Bible,  and  trusted  it  so  profoundly 
that  he  was  not  afraid  to  read  the  latest  results  of 
scholarly  investigation,  or  to  examine  the  boldest 
pretensions  of  the  destructive  critic.  No  one 
could  be  with  Bishop  Mills  an  hour  without  being 
impressed  with  his  extensive  reading  and  versatile 
knowledge.  His  contact  with  the  ministry  of  the 
Church  tended  to  quicken  their  mental  activities, 
and  many  of  his  brethren  remember  the  question 
which  he  scarcely  ever  failed  to  ask, "What  is 
the  last  book  you  have  read?"  If  one  had  not 
been  reading  some  of  the  latest  things  in  literature, 
he  always  felt  himself  at  a  disadvantage  before 
the  Bishop  was  done  talking  with  him.  As  we 
recall  the  splendid  gifts  of  Bishop  Mills,  it  will 
probably  be  agreed  that  he  has  had  few  equals 
and  no  superiors  intellectually  in  all  the  history  of 
our  general  superintendents. 

4.  The  career  of  Bishop  Mills  was  marked 
by  great  energy  and  decision  of  character.  Action 
was  his  life.  An  enterprising  spirit  and  energetic 
will,  a  conscientious  desire  to  do  his  duty  aided  in 
resisting  the  early  influence  of  disease  and  length- 
ened his  days  far  beyond  the  expectation  of  those 
who  knew  him  in  boyhood  and  early  youth. 
These  inflexible  qualities  were  seen  in  the  tenacity 
with  which  his  sharply  defined  opinions  were  held. 
On  any  question  that  concerned  him,  he  never 
remained  in  an  unsettled  condition,  and  no  one 
else  was  left  in  doubt  or  uncertainty  as  to  his 
opinion.  None  who  were  acquainted  with  his 
vigorous  nature  ever  thought  of  him  as  "a  reed 
shaken  by  the  wind."     His  views  were  reached 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK    201 

without  regard  to  their  acceptance  or  rejection 
by  others;  and,  though  he  loved  the  approval  of 
his  brethren,  he  would  not  surrender  a  conviction 
in  order  to  secure  it.  Such  a  nature  is  not  easily 
disheartened  by  difficulties,  and  will  not  falter  in 
carrying  out  plans  which  command  his  own  approv- 
al. This  was  perhaps  the  most  marked  character- 
istic in  the  life  of  Bishop  Mills — the  unflinching 
courage  of  his  convictions  and  the  unswerving 
persistence  with  which  he  maintained  them.  It 
is  to  this  class  of  leaders  that  the  world  is  indebted 
for  its  great  progress.  This  spirit  of  dauntless 
self-reliance  never  failed  him  in  any  duty  or  trial 
through  which  he  was  called  to  pass. 

5.  In  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform,  Bishop 
Mills  was  a  striking  character.  All  who  heard 
his  public  addresses  will  remember  that  his  manner 
was  earnest,  graceful,  vigorous,  and  dignified;  that 
his  enunciation  was  clear,  ringing,  and  impressive, 
and  that  his  discourses  were  marked  by  the  sternest 
simplicity  of  diction.  He  preached  without  a 
single  unnecessary  rhetorical  flourish  or  flight  of 
fancy.  He  seemed  to  think  that  he  had  a  message 
from  God  to  the  people,  and  delivered  it  with  a 
candor  and  earnestness  becoming  an  embassador 
of  Christ.  His  clear,  terse  style,  his  short,  simple, 
and  pointed  sentences,  delivered  in  extemporan- 
eous manner,  never  failed  to  hold  the  closest 
attention  of  his  hearers,  or  to  bring  the  truth  home 
to  their  consciences  with  telling  effect. 

6.  In  the  office  of  Bishop,  our  translated 
brother  was  aggressive  and  highly  efficient.  He 
was  built  for  leadership,  and  in  the  office  of  general 
superintendent  of  the  Church,  he  filled  its  exacting 


202     ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK 

and  multifarious  responsibilities  with  conspicuous 
ability.  His  vision  swept  the  whole  world  when 
he  considered  the  spread  of  the  Master's  kingdom. 
In  his  death  the  mission  boards  of  the  Church, 
home  and  foreign,  lost  a  mighty  friend.  His 
apostolic  missionary  fervor  constrained  him  to 
labor  and  plan  and  travel  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  At  the  call  of 
duty,  we  see  him  going  to  the  help  of  a  discouraged 
pastor  in  a  hard  field  of  the  home  land,  walking 
with  tired  feet  among  the  camps  of  the  miners, 
or  putting  his  brave  heart  by  the  side  of  a  brother 
as  he  struggled  to  build  up  the  church  in  a  crowded 
city,  and  always  giving  of  his  means  as  well  as  his 
strength  to  every  field  that  engaged  his  attention. 
Again,  he  is  beyond  the  ocean,  holding  conferences 
in  Africa,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and,  in  the  breadth  of  his  great  field 
work  he  traveled  continents  till  their  surface 
became  almost  as  famihar  to  him  as  the  retreats 
of  his  own  community.  In  this  spirit  he  went 
right  on,  year  in  and  year  out,  knowing  no  vaca- 
tion, and  asking  no  rest  but  hard  work. 

This  wide-wandering  servant  of  the  Church 
came  home  from  his  last  visit  to  the  Orient  jaded 
and  broken  by  the  long  journeys  and  exhausting 
labors.  When  the  General  Conference  met  at 
Canton,  his  iron  will  brought  him  to  that  great 
gathering,  but  it  was  apparent  to  all  who  met  him 
that  his  last  round  of  conferences  had  been  made, 
and  his  last  visitation  across  the  seas  had  been 
completed.  Still,  he  refused  to  believe  that  his 
work  was  done.  He  needed  rest  and  relief  from 
all  cares   and   anxieties,   but,   like   one   who   was 


ESTIMATES  OF  LIFE  AND  WORK    203 

determined  to  rest  not  until  the  grave  should 
unveil  its  bosom  to  receive  him,  his  great,  active, 
restless  mind  was  busy  with  thought  of  the  Church 
till  the  last.  Up  to  the  closing  moments  of  his 
life,  he  read  the  current  literature  of  his  Church 
and  of  the  Christian  world,  and  showed  as  much 
interest  in  the  living  questions  of  the  times  as  when 
in  perfect  health.  He  responded  to  the  demands 
for  his  service  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  stand  on 
his  feet.  Every  sermon  and  address  which  he 
delivered  after  his  last  return  from  the  foreign 
fields  was  a  triumph  of  will  power;  but  he  insisted 
upon  performing  the  duties  of  his  office  when 
almost  staggering  with  weakness  of  body.  It  was 
a  source  of  comfort  to  his  brethren  and  friends 
throughout  the  Church  that  when  the  sun  of  his 
life  was  declining,  there  were  no  clouds  in  the 
evening  heavens.  Brave  in  death  as  he  had  been 
in  life,  his  great  soul  passed  away  in  peace  to  its 
God.  There  the  travel- worn  pilgrim  is  safe.  No 
storm  has  pursued  his  ship.  He  has  reached  the 
land  on  whose  shore  there  breaks  no  wave,  and 
whose  air  is  distempered  by  no  winds  or  storms. 
Let  us  cherish  his  noble  qualities  and  heroic  deeds, 
and  think  of  him  at  his  best. 

"Think  of  him  as  the  same,  I  say; 

He  is  not  dead — he  is  just  away." 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 


Chapter  XI 
SERMONS  AND    ADDRESSES 

The  Kingdom  of  God,  the  True  Socialism. 

[Delivered  before  the  students  of  Union  Biblical  Seminary.  1891.] 

"Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done,  as  in 
heaven,  so  upon  earth." — Matthew  5:10. 

This  is  an  age  of  social  strife  and  unrest,  as 
witnessed  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  But  Chris- 
tianity has  a  solution  to  this  serious  problem  which 
confronts    us. 

An  ideal  state,  in  which  all  the  people  are 
prosperous  and  happy,  has  been  sought  through 
all  the  ages.  It  has  been  the  dream  of  the  poet,  the 
ambition  of  the  philosopher,  and  the  hope  of  the 
patriot.  Such  plans  are  found  in  Plato's  "Re- 
public," Cicero's  "Commonwealth,"  Moore's 
"Utopia,"  and  Spencer's  "Social  Statics,"  and 
Bellamy's  "Looking  Backward." 

A  universal  kingdom,  embracing  the  whole 
race  in  one  realm,  has  been  a  vision  of  many  a 
dreamer.  Oriental,  Grecian,  and  Roman  monarchs 
tried  to  subdue  the  world,  and,  by  force,  unite  it 
into  one  empire;  but  the  efforts  only  proved  that 
such  an  ideal  can  never  be  realized  through  the 
selfishness  of  either  rulers  or  people.  During  the 
time  of  these  experiments,  there  lived  in  Judaea  a 
nation  whose  God  was  their  king,  whose  prophets 
foretold  that  this  king  would  establish  a  universal 


208  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

empire,  whose  people  should  be  all  righteous,  and 
whose  realm  should  be  full  of  peace. 

Immediately  before  the  beginning  of  the 
public  ministry  of  Christ,  his  herald  went  forth 
proclaiming,  "The  kingdom  of  God  draws  nearer." 
When  Christ  began  his  work  he  declared,  "The 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand."  This  kingdom  was 
the  theme  of  all  his  preaching.  His  parables  are 
parables  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  His  gospel  is 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  terms,  "kingdom  of  God,"  and  "kingdom 
of  heaven,"  are  interchangeable.  This  realm  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  present  reality;  at  other 
times  it  is  referred  to  as  a  thing  of  the  future. 
Both  statements  are  in  harmony  with  fact;  it  is  a 
growing  empire,  present,  but  not  yet  complete, 
its  ideal  not  yet  realized. 

I.  What  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven?  It  is 
the  spirit  of  Christ  in  human  society,  remedying 
its  ills  and  uniting  it  into  social  unity,  ultimately 
redeemed  and  perfected.  It  will  be  more  clearly 
defined  by  showing  its  relation  to  certain  other 
things: 

].  Its  relation  to  the  world.  "The  world" 
has  two  very  distinct  meanings.  In  the  one  case 
it  means  society  under  the  dominion  of  selfishness 
— abnormal,  unreal,  and  transitional,  as  seen  in 
contrast  to  its  divine  ideal.  In  this  sense  we 
speak  of  the  "world"  or  "worldly  people."  This 
was  the  spirit  of  the  age  when  Christianity  was 
introduced,  and  a  conflict  at  once  began  between 
the  two.  This  conflict,  and  the  one  which  soon 
followed  between  Christianity  and  the  Roman 
Empire — the  world-empire  of  that  age — made  the 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        209 

impression  upon  the  church  that  the  world  in  every 
sense  is  evil,  and  evil  only;  and  that  beyond  re- 
covery. This  impression  abides  to  this  day,  in 
many  minds.  Out  of  it  has  grown  the  spirit  that 
takes  man  away  from  society  to  live  a  secluded 
life,  the  life  of  the  hermit,  to  mortify  his  body 
because  it  is  a  part  of  this  world.  The  same  spirit 
leads  others  to  look  upon  many  of  the  most  serious 
interests  of  life,  such  as  natural  science  or  politics, 
as  secular  or  profane.  From  the  same  mistaken 
view,  others  regard  as  sinful  all  recreations  and 
amusements,  however  innocent.  For  the  same 
reason  salvation  is  looked  upon  as  the  deliverance 
out  of  the  world  of  individuals,  forgetting  or  ig- 
noring the  fact  that  salvation  is  promised  for  the 
life  that  now  is.  It  must  be  admitted  that  this 
world  is  very  imperfect,  and  frequently  unjust. 
It  is  perverted ;  but  its  whole  structure  bears  witness 
to  a  higher  destiny  reached  through  redemption. 

The  second  meaning  of  "the  world"  is  "the 
organized  constitution  of  things  in  which  we  live, 
including  the  material  universe,  but  chiefly,  hu- 
manity, as  its  head."  The  world  that  God  so 
loved,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  it 
might  not  perish.  It  is  this  world  that  the  Son 
gave  his  life  to  redeem.  It  is  this  world  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  come  to  sanctify.  It  is  this  world 
of  which  Paul  says:  "For  the  earnest  expectation 
of  the  creation  waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons 
of  God.  For  the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity, 
not  of  its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  hath 
subjected  it,  in  hope  that  the  creation  itself  also 
shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption 
into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of 


210  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

God.  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groan- 
eth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now. 
And  not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also,  who  have  the 
first-fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves,  groan 
within  ourselves,  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to-wit, 
the  redemption  of  our  body.  For  in  hope,  we  are 
saved."  It  is  this  imprisoned,  suffering,  yet  hope- 
ful and  expectant  world  that  is  the  subject  of 
redemption,  and  that  is  to  be  leavened  by,  and 
transformed  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

2.  Its  relation  to  the  church.  The  kingdom 
of  God  and  the  church  are  often  thought  to  be 
identical.  They  are  very  closely  related,  but  not 
the  same.  The  church  is  a  rehgious  idea;  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  a  moral  idea.  The  church 
seeks  to  obey  the  first  command,  "Love  God;"  the 
kingdom  of  God  seeks  to  obey  the  second  command, 
"Love  thy  neighbor."  The  church  is  theological; 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  socialistic.  The  church  is 
Mary  sitting  devoutly  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  Martha  serving  her  Lord  by 
doing  the  duties  of  the  hour.  The  church  is  the 
discijples  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  enjoying 
the  vision  and  the  glory,  and  desiring  always  to 
stay  there;  the  kingdom  of  God  is  the  same  dis- 
ciples with  their  Master  going  down  into  the  dark 
valleys  where  men  are  in  bondage  and  possessed 
by  evil  spirits,  and  bringing  deliverance  unto  them. 
The  church  has  too  far  assumed  that  this  world 
is  necessarily  evil,  and  hence  has  pre-empted  a 
place  in  another  world  as  the  fruition  of  its  hopes; 
the  kingdom  of  God  seeks  to  change  and  restore 
this  world,  until  all  things  are  made  new.  The 
church  has  made  a  bad  bargain  with  Satan  by 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        211 

accepting  its  inheritance  in  another  world  and 
allowing  him  to  have  this  world;  the  kingdom  of 
God  repudiates  this  bargain,  and  declares  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom 
of  our  Lord. 

This  antithesis  is  not  a  necessary  antagonism 
between  the  church  and  the  kingdom.  They 
represent  two  ways  of  manifesting  the  Christian 
life.  They  unite  in  every  perfect  Christian.  But 
as  the  churchly  or  theological  idea  has  chiefly 
dominated  in  the  past,  the  socialistic  idea  must  be 
emphasized  now.  Love  not  God  less,  but  man 
more. 

3.  It  has  a  relation  to  whatever  is  pure  and 
right  and  good  everywhere.  There  is  no  difference 
between  natural  virtue  and  Christian  virtue. 
"Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from 
above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of 
lights."  This  is  true  of  moral  as  well  as  of  all 
other  good  gifts.  Of  the  eternal  word  of  God,  it 
is  declared,  "He  lighteneth  every  man  coming 
into  the  world."  All  goodness  is  a  beam  of  that 
light,  and  is  therefore  essentially  Christian.  There 
is  no  essential  difference  between  the  same  kind 
and  grade  of  fruit  growing  in  the  garden,  and  that 
outside  the  wall.     The  fruit  is  the  best  of  the  tree. 

In  the  old  world  and  in  the  modern  heathen 
world,  in  their  systems  of  morality,  religion,  and 
philosophy  are  found  many  gleams  of  this  true 
light,  a  sort  of  unconscious  Christian  faith  in  the 
better  things  to  come.  The  Old  Testament  recog- 
nizes people  of  God  outside  of  Israel.  The  New 
Testament  declares,  "God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons;  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him, 


212  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  him." 
As  it  is  the  same  universal  spirit  who  inspires  the 
Hfe  of  the  plants,  and  paints  the  beauty  of  the 
flowers,  and  perfects  the  fruits  of  the  trees  in  every 
land,  so  he  is  the  same  God  who  inspires  all  moral 
excellence  of  every  kind;  it  is  his  kingdom  that  is 
leavening  society,  consciously  or  unconsciously. 
"Wherever  justice  and  love  are  found  in  any  of 
their  various  manifestations,  the  love  of  kindred 
and  of  country,  the  generous  and  courteous  de- 
meanor of  man  to  man,  valor,  love  of  truth,  able 
device,  self-discipline,  purity;  wherever  there  is 
anything  that  is  lovely  and  of  good  report,  there 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  silently  working  and  trans- 
forming, even  though  men  know  not  its  name. 
Multitudes  are  thus  affected;  some  of  whom  may  be 
unwilling  to  acknowledge  the  source  of  their  good- 
ness; but  we  know  an  evil  tree  cannot  bring  forth 
good  fruit,  neither  can  a  good  tree  bring  forth  evil 
fruit.  "Whatever  stands  this  test  is  essentially 
Christian," 

4.  It  has  a  definite  relation  to  all  right  modes 
of  life,  of  activity,  and  of  human  progress.  The 
family,  the  school,  the  vocations  of  life,  the  fra- 
ternal associations  of  men,  the  citizen's  relations 
to  his  country,  and  the  civil  government,  as  well 
as  the  church,  are  all  to  be  transformed  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  and  become  organs,  instruments 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to  help  bring  its 
blessings  to  the  world.  To  the  Christian,  instead 
of  one  day  being  holy,  and  without  depreciating 
the  necessity  of  that  one  day,  all  days  are  holy; 
instead  of  one  place  being  holy,  the  whole  earth 
is  sacred  ground,  a  glorious  temple  in  which  God 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        213 

dwells;  instead  of  one  class  of  men  being  sacred  to 
God,  all  the  redeemed  are  ministers  and  priests 
with  God;  instead  of  some  work  being  sacred  and 
other  secular,  all  right  work  is  holy  work,  according 
to  the  command,  "Whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or 
deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Thus 
everything  in  life  is  holy,  because  it  partakes  of 
redemption  as  man  shares  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
Hence  the  culture  of  man  and  of  the  earth;  the 
progress  of  science  and  of  art;  the  increase  of 
knowledge  and  of  learning;  the  triumphs  of  me- 
chanical inventions  and  the  works  of  genius;  the 
growth  of  the  means  of  alleviating  pain,  and  of 
producing  human  happiness;  the  eloquence  of  the 
orator  and  the  vision  of  the  statesman;  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  human  spirit  and  the  advance  of 
moral  reforms;  righteousness  in  governments  and 
liberty  among  the  people,  in  a  word  "civilization" 
finds  its  highest  inspiration,  its  truest  unity,  and 
its  final  goal  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"The  genius  of  Christianity  requires  us  to  con- 
ceive of  the  spiritual  not  as  separate  from,  but  as 
interpenetrating  and  vivifying  the  material;  of 
God,  not  as  separate,  but  as  a  spirit  pervading  the 
universe  of  redemption;  not  as  making  men  sepa- 
rate by  removing  the  redeemed  into  a  different 
sphere  of  existence,  but  as  drawing  them  and  all 
their  surroundings  with  holy  and  loving  relations; 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  not  as  a  separate  body, 
but  as  seeking  always,  and  destined  finally  to 
embrace  the  whole  race  of  mankind." 

II.  The  fundamental  'principles  of  the  king- 
dom of  God: 


214  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

1.  The  fundamental  idea.  This  is  not  the  fact 
of  human  sinfulness,  though  it  shows  why  sin 
is  so  great  a  matter.  This  is  not  the  possibility 
of  an  eternal  loss  through  sin,  though  it  shows 
why  that  possibility  is  such  a  fearful  one.  This 
is  not  the  offer  of  salvation  to  all  men,  though 
it  shows  why  God  was  pleased  to  make  the  offer. 
This  is  not  the  joy  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven, 
though  it  reveals  the  source  and  ground  of  that 
joy.  This  fundamental  idea  upon  which  the 
kingdom  of  God  rests  is  the  fatherhood  of  God,  and 
the  childhood  of  all  men  to  him,  and  the  brother- 
hood of  all  men  to  each  other.  Phillips  Brooks 
says,  "Upon  the  race  and  upon  the  individual, 
Jesus  is  always  bringing  into  more  and  more  perfect 
revelation  the  certain  truth  that  man,  and  every 
man  is  the  child  of  God."  This  is  the  sum  of  the 
word,  of  the  incarnation.  A  hundred  other  state- 
ments concerning  him  are  true;  but  all  statements 
concerning  him  hold  their  truth  within  this  truth — 
that  Jesus  came  to  restore  the  fact  of  God's  father- 
hood to  man's  knowledge,  and  to  its  central  place 
of  power  over  man's  life. 

Jesus  is  mysteriously  by  the  word  of  God  made 
flesh.  He  is  the  worker  of  amazing  miracles  upon 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  He  is  the  Savior  by 
suffering;  but  behind  all  these,  as  the  purpose  for 
which  he  is  all  these,  he  is  the  redeemer  of  man  into 
the  fatherhood  of  God.  It  would  be  deeply  in- 
teresting to  dwell  upon  any  one  of  these  special 
aspects  of  his  wondrous  life;  but  to  gather  with  one 
great,  comprehensive  statement  the  purpose  for 
which  Jesus  lived,  and  the  power  which  his  life 
has  had  over  the  lives  of  men,  we  must  seize  his 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        215 

great  idea,  and  find  his  power  there.  Every  man's 
power  is  his  idea  multiphed  by,  and  projected 
through  his  personahty.  His  special  actions  are 
only  the  points  at  which  his  power  shows  itself, 
not  where  it  is  created.  And  so  the  power  of  Jesus, 
in  founding  a  kingdom,  is  the  idea  of  Jesus  multi- 
phed by,  and  projected  through  his  personality. 
That  idea  is,  the  relation  of  childhood  and  father- 
hood between  man  and  God,  and  the  relation  of 
brotherhood  between  all  men.  Man  is  the  child  of 
God  even  though  he  is  sinful  and  rebelhous.  He 
is  the  prodigal  child  of  God,  ignorant  of  his  father. 
But  his  rebellion  breaks  not  that  first  relationship. 
To  reassert  this  fatherhood,  childhood,  and  brother- 
hood as  an  everlasting  truth,  and  to  re-establish 
its  power  as  the  central,  formative  idea  of  society 
was  the  mission  of  Jesus  to  earth. 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  man  is  not  the 
child  of  God  by  nature,  that  he  becomes  such  by 
adoption,  through  redemption.  But  it  is  more  in 
harmony  with  the  Word  of  God  to  understand 
adoption  to  mean  a  restoration  to  last  privileges 
and  relations  which  man  has  forfeited  by  his  sins, 
and  from  which  he  has  alienated  himself  by  wicked 
works.  When  the  Spirit  witnesses  to  man's 
salvation,  he  becomes  conscious  of  God's  father- 
hood, and  cries.  "Abba,  Father."  Paul  taught 
the  Greeks  that  their  own  poet  uttered  the  truth 
when  he  said,  referring  to  their  relation  to  God, 
"For  we  are  also  his  offspring."  And  Luke  traces 
the  genealogy  of  man  to  God. 

Open  the  Bible  at  the  parable  of  the  prodigal 
son,  "A  certain  man  had  two  sons,"  and  from  the 


216  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

embrace  of  the  father's  love  neither  of  them  ever 
departed.  The  prodigal  in  his  wanderings  in  the 
far-off  land  is  still  a  son,  though  he  has  alienated 
himself  from  the  privileges  of  a  son.  His  return 
does  not  for  the  first  time  make  him  a  son,  it 
restores  him  to  what  he  had  lost  in  the  home. 
Or,  turn  to  another  scene,  and  hear  Jesus  teaching 
men  to  pray,  "Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 
Not  only  the  needy  child  who  prays  for  bread, 
but  the  sinful  child  whose  lips  tremble  with  the 
prayer  to  be  forgiven  begins  his  petition  with  the 
claim  of  the  son  upon  the  father.  Or,  again, 
under  the  solemn  circumstances  beside  the  tomb 
from  which  Jesus  has  just  risen,  when  he  draws 
back  the  curtains  and  proclaims  his  life  and  his 
disciples'  life  together,  he  declares,  "I  ascend  unto 
my  Father  and  to  your  Father."  Or,  once  more, 
hear  John's  testimony,  as  he  sums  up  the  effect  of 
his  Master's  life  and  teaching,  "To  as  many  as 
received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God."  "Behold,  what  manner  of  love 
the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should 
be  called  the  sons  of  God," 

In  harmony  with  the  old  Greek  idea,  this  one 
who  is  the  Father  of  all  men  is  the  sovereign  of  the 
kingdom.  And  the  kingdom  is  built  upon  the  fact 
of  the  brotherhood  of  all  men.  For  there  is  neither 
Jew  ncr  Greek,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female  in 
Christ  Jesus,  but  all  are  one  common  brotherhood. 

2.  The  second  great  principle  is  a  natural  out- 
growth of  the  first.  It  is  love  as  the  supreme  law 
of  the  kingdom.  All  moral  evil  is  an  outgrowth  of 
selfishness.  This  is  the  heart,  the  inner  life,  the 
very  principle  of  all  sin.     Out  of  it  are  the  issues  of 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        217 

death.  Selfishness  is  separating  our  lives,  interests, 
efforts,  sympathies  from  our  fellowmen.  It  is 
living  a  self-centered  life,  as  if  all  the  world  were 
made  simply  to  serve  our  wants  and  wishes.  Love 
is  to  identify  ourselves  with  a  larger  whole  of  which 
we  are  but  parts.  Christ  stated  the  law  of  his 
kingdom  thus:  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  The  second 
command,  as  if  in  more  danger  of  being  neglected 
than  the  first,  was  given  a  working  method  in 
these  words,  "Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them." 
Paul  sums  up  both  in  the  one,  saying,  "All  the  law 
is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  Thus  making  neighbor-love  carry 
with  it  the  love  of  God.  John  declared  that  our 
love  for  our  brethren  is  the  test  of  our  love  to  God. 
Love  has  been  compared  to  the  law  of  gravity. 
As  that  mighty  energy  holds  all  the  parts  of  the 
physical  universe  in  harmonious  balance  as  they 
revolve  around  a  common  center,  so  the  power  of 
love  will  finally  hold  in  perfect  harmony  all  the 
members  of  God's  kingdom,  as  they  move  about 
him,  as  their  supreme  center.  "The  command  of 
supreme  love  toward  God  cannot  fittingly  be  laid 
upon  men  except  in  connection  with  such  a  dis- 
closure of  God's  character  and  of  his  relations  to  us 
as  is  fitted  to  call  out  and  sustain  this  love.  The 
injunction,  when  made,  gains  its  full  scope  only 
as  the  revelation  which  accompanies  it  becomes 
complete.  It  is  a  feeble  and  ineffectual  thing  to 
command  love,  unless  its  conditions  are  at  the 
same  time  supplied.     The  force  which  is  to  evoke 


218  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

this  great  love  of  man  toward  God  is  not  the  word 
of  authority,  but  that  absolute  rationahty,  that 
supreme  excellence,  that  patience  of  power,  that 
overflowing  love  of  God  which  removes  all  distrust, 
all  fear,  and  enables  the  mind  to  draw  near  to  God 
and  to  abide  in  his  wisdom  and  grace.  The  father- 
hood of  God,  in  its  fullest  scope,  is  the  idea  which 
answers  to  the  perfect  moral  law,  and  gives  that 
law  the  possibility  of  fulfillment. 

"The  possibility  of  that  obedience  to  the 
second  command  which  shall  make  the  flow  of  our 
affections  toward  our  fellowmen  inspiring  and 
helpful,  is  double.  It  involves  first,  a  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  they  are  by  constitution  the  mem- 
bers of  one  household,  under  one  law,  harmonious 
in  its  action;  and,  secondly,  our  hearty  acceptance 
of  this  fact,  with  corresponding  desire  to  secure 
its  complete  realization.  Not  till  we  find  God  as  a 
father,  can  we  love  him;  and  not  till,  standing  with 
our  fellowmen,  we  find  him  as  our  Father  who  art 
in  heaven,  can  we  feel  the  full  flow  of  the  reflex 
love  we  owe  to  them.  If  there  is  no  theoretical 
unity  in  the  spiritual  kingdom,  if  men  do  not,  by 
constitution,  belong  to  one  kingdom,  then  it  is 
vain  to  strive  to  construct  a  kingdom  out  of  dis- 
cordant materials  by  mere  authority."  But  they 
do  all  rightly  belong  to  one  kingdom,  which  is 
the  family  of  God,  including  him  as  father. 

Taking  the  first  command  and  the  parable 
of  the  prodigal  son  as  the  exponent  of  our  relation 
to  God,  and  the  second  command  and  the  parable 
of  the  good  Samaritan  as  its  working  formula,  and 
the  life  of  Christ  as  an  illustration  of  both,  we  have 
a  divine  plan  of  social  unity  clearly  outlined. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        219 

This  land  of  unity  is  not  a  mere  sentiment. 
It  is  obedience  to  a  universal  law,  that  nothing  is 
made  for  itself  alone,  but  everything  is  a  part  of  a 
universal  system.  Everything  belongs  more  to  the 
organism  of  which  it  is  a  part  than  to  itself.  Every- 
thing gives  up  its  individual  will  for  the  will  of 
the  whole.  This  is  the  law  of  sacrificial  love.  It 
is  an  unconscious  law  in  nature.  The  sun  shines 
not  for  self,  the  rain  falls  not  for  self,  the  grass 
grows  not  for  self,  the  flowers  bloom  not  for  self, 
the  fruits  and  grains  ripen  not  for  self.  Each 
lives  its  life,  performs  its  appointed  task  for  the 
good  of  others.  God  obeys  the  same  law  of  love. 
He  gives  all  good  gifts,  even  his  Son.  The  Son 
gives  even  his  life.  They  are  parts  of  this  great 
whole  and  obedient  to  the  law  of  sacrificial  love. 
Mans  life  must  come  under  this  law  or  he  remains 
a  discordant  element  in  the  universe.  Christ  rep- 
resented his  relation  to  redeemed  humanity  as  the 
vine  and  its  branches — mutual  dependence.  Paul 
represents  redeemed  humanity  with  Christ  as  the 
heart,  as  one  body  "members  one  of  another." 
The  will  of  God,  which  is  love,  is  the  gravitation 
of  the  whole  moral  universe.  Hence,  "Thy  will 
be  done,"  is  the  most  rational  prayer  the  soul  can 
offer. 

Any  effort  at  social  unity  that  omits  either 
of  these  two  factors — God  and  humanity  as  one 
family,  and  love  as  its  lock — will  be  a  repetition 
of  the  old  effort  to  build  the  tower  of  Babel  up  to 
heaven  out  of  earthly  materials,  and  the  end  will 
be  confusion  and  separation.  But  according  to 
this  divine  plan  the  world  is  progressing  toward 
unity.     A    symbol    and    prophecy    of    this    was 


220  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

witnessed  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  strangers 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  gathered  at  Jerusalem. 
When  baptized  into  the  same  spirit,  each  heard 
and  understood,  in  his  own  tongue  wherein  he  was 
born,  the  wonderful  things  of  God. 

3.  Its  supreme  end  is  the  highest  good  of  so- 
ciety. Individualism  regards  the  single  man  as  an 
independent  and  complete  being.  Each  aims  first 
at  his  own  welfare  and  happiness.  The  good  of 
others  is  very  subordinate  and  indifferent.  This 
has  been  pushed  to  its  extreme  limits,  which  is 
systematic  selfishness.  Communism  is  the  op- 
posite extreme  in  which  the  single  man  is  lost  in 
the  social  organism. 

4.  Next  in  order  is  the  law  of  life  in  the  king- 
dom. Man,  by  his  physical  organism  is  mated 
in  nature,  and  shares  its  common  life.  By  his 
spirit  he  is  related  to  God  and  capable  of  sharing 
God's  life.  Thoughtful  minds  have  even  contem- 
plated God  as  not  simply  above  nature,  but  also 
as  imminent  in  nature.  He  not  only  transcends 
all  nature  and  works  upon  it  from  without,  but 
he  is  in  all  nature  as  its  moral  and  spiritual  center, 
its  guiding  force,  the  "power  that  makes  for 
righteousness."  A  distinguished  Christian  philos- 
opher speaks  of  all  material  existence  as  "a  mode 
of  the  divine  energizing,"  a  revelation  of  God's 
presence  and  power.  He  would  trace  all  force  to 
God  as  its  ultimate  origin,  the  whole  world  as  a 
revelation  of  his  indwelling  life.  He  was  not  only 
in  the  world,  but  the  world  was  made  by  him  and 
for  him;  and  as  men  have  been  able  to  receive 
him,  he  has  more  and  more  entered  into  fellowship 
with  them.     "That  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual, 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        221 

but  that  which  is  natural;  afterward  that  which  is 
spiritual.  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy; 
the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  .  .  .  "As 
we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall 
also  be  the  image  of  the  heavenly."  This  presents 
an  order  of  growth.  Christianity,  or  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  is  a  synthesis  of  these  two  extremes. 
It  teaches  the  individual  to  "seek  first  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  his  righteousness"  as  the  highest  good, 
and  then  puts  upon  him  the  obligation  of  service 
for  the  good  of  others ;  thus,  to  give  to  the  social 
organism,  a  comparative  perfection,  harmony,  and 
happiness.  But  as  in  the  past  ages,  individualism 
has  been  pushed  to  an  extreme,  it  remains  for  this 
age  to  see  what  Christianity  can  do  for  society. 

Bishop  Westcott  has  recently  said:  "While 
socialism  has  been  discredited  by  its  connection 
with  many  extravagant  and  revolutionary  schemes, 
it  is  a  term  which  needs  to  be  claimed  for  noble 
uses.  It  has  no  necessary  affinity  with  any  form 
of  violence  or  confiscation,  or  class  selfishness,  or 
financial  arrangement.  It  is  a  theory  of  life.  In 
this  sense,  socialism  is  the  opposite  of  individual- 
ism, and  it  is  by  contrast  under  a  new  type,  the 
Lord  from  heaven.  Since  the  incarnation  of  God 
in  Jesus  Christ,  he  has  become  in  a  true  sense  the 
life  of  the  world.  Humanity  has  become  grafted 
into  the  divine  stock  and  draws  its  life  from  a 
divine  fountain.  There  is  now  community  of  life 
between  God  and  his  people. 

The  life  which  Christ  manifested  in  the  world 
becomes  the  life  of  the  Spirit.  He  says:  "It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away;  for  if  I  go  not 
away  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you;  but 


222  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  .  .  AVhen  he, 
the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  unto 
all  truth;  for  he  shall  not  speak  of  himself;  but 
whatsoever  he  shall  hear,  that  shall  he  speak.  .  .  . 
He  shall  glorify  me ;  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and 
shall  show  it  unto  you.  All  things  that  the  Father 
hath  are  mine:  therefore  said  I,  that  he  shall  take 
of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you." 

"That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh;  and 
that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  Under 
this  reign  of  the  Spirit,  the  soul  is  brought  into  a 
realm  of  new  ideas,  new  impulses,  and  new  life. 
Man  is  now  made  a  partaker  of  the  eternal  life, 
which  is  to  know  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he 
hath  sent.  His  real  life  henceforth  becomes  the 
life  of  the  Spirit.  Men  are  the  temples  of  the 
living  God.  God  dwells  in  them,  not  as  inert 
matter,  but  as  life.  Wherever  there  is  a  vacuum 
in  a  human  soul  into  which  he  is  welcome,  God  fills 
it.  He  is  thus  the  complement  or  completion  of 
our  little  fragmentary  lives,  by  uniting  them  in 
faith  and  hope  and  love,  to  the  great  system  of 
which  he  is  the  center,  lighting  us  up  to  a  conscious 
union  with  him.  The  prophet  looked  forward  to 
this  time  of  the  union  of  God  and  man  when  human 
life  should  expand  in  all  directions,  filled  with  wis- 
dom and  adorned  with  all  graces.  They  compared 
it  to  the  effect  of  rain  upon  the  earth  after  a  long 
drought,  saying:  "The  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  shall  be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  shall 
rejoice,  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  It  shall  blossom 
abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing 
and  the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it." 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        223 

In  the  fullness  of  the  life  of  the  Spirit,  the 
selfishness  of  the  human  heart  will  be  expelled, 
and  the  soul  will  grow  into  its  type  and  attain  its 
true  perfection  in  Christ. 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  society  organizing 
men  into  social  unity — ultimately  the  whole  world 
redeemed.  Its  underlying  idea  is  the  fatherhood 
of  God,  the  childhood  of  all  men  to  him,  and  the 
brotherhood  of  all  men  to  each  other — one  family. 
Its  law  is  love,  which  is  the  gravitation  of  the  moral 
universe.  Its  life  is  the  life  of  God  in  men.  Its 
aim  is  righteousness  on  earth.  The  hope  of  its 
realization  is  that  it  is  God's  plan,  and  his  plan 
will  prevail. 

What  is  here  said  of  socialism  can  all  of  it  be 
affirmed  of  Christianity  as  taught  in  these  passages 
of  Scripture:  "Whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it;  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake, 
shall  find  it."  "We  are  members  one  of  another." 
"We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirm- 
ities of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please  ourselves." 
"Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfill  the 
law  of  Christ." 

III.  What  can  we  do  to  hasten  the  realization 
of  this  ideal  of  human  society? 

1.  Recognize  that  each  is  only  a  part  of  a 
greater  whole.  In  this  land  where  each  is  a  sover- 
eign, individualism  has  been  carried  to  an  extreme, 
and  thus  has  become  a  source  of  evil.  Christianity 
teaches  that  each  is  but  a  part  of  a  greater  body, 
as  a  branch  is  a  part  of  the  vine;  and  thus  the  true 
character  of  socialism  can  best  be  discerned.  Indi- 
vidualism and  socialism  correspond  with  opposite 


224  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

views  of  humanity.  Individualism  regards  human- 
ity as  made  up  of  disconnected  or  warring  atoms; 
sociahsm  regards  it  as  an  organic  whole,  a  vital  unity 
formed  by  the  combination  of  contributory  mem- 
bers mutually  interdependent.  It  follows  that  so- 
cialism differs  from  individualism  both  in  method 
and  in  aim.  The  method  of  socialism  is  co-opera  tion ; 
the  method  of  individualism  is  competition.  The 
one  regards  man  as  working  with  men  for  a  common 
end ;  the  other  regards  men  as  working  against  man 
for  private  gain.  The  aim  of  socialism  is  the  fulfill- 
ment of  service;  the  aim  of  individualism  is  the 
attainment  of  some  personal  advantage,  riches, 
place,  or  fame.  Socialism  seeks  such  an  organi- 
zation of  life  as  shall  secure  for  every  one  the 
most  complete  development  of  his  powers;  in- 
dividualism seeks  primarily  the  satisfaction  of  the 
particular  wants  of  each  one,  in  the  hope  that  the 
pursuit  of  private  interest  will  in  the  end  secure 
public  welfare.  If  men  were  perfect,  with  desires 
and  powers  harmoniously  balanced,  both  lines  of 
action  would  lead  to  the  same  end.  As  it  is,  how- 
ever, experience  shows  that  limitations  must  be 
placed  upon  the  self-assertion  of  the  single  man. 
The  growing  sense  of  dependence,  as  life  becomes 
more  ana  more  complex,  necessarily  increases  the 
feeling  of  personal  obligation,  which  constrains 
us  each  to  look  into  circumstances  of  others.  At 
the  same  time,  in  the  intercourse  of  a  fuller  life, 
we  learn  that  oui-  character  is  impoverished  in 
proportion  as  we  are  isolated,  and  we  also  learn 
that  evil  or  wrong  in  one  part  of  society  makes 
itself  felt  throughout  the  whole. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        225 

Already  society  has  been  greatly  blessed  by 
the  silent  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Its 
humane  spirit  has  largely  banished  cast  and  slavery; 
but  many  other  evils  afflict  society,  causing  it  to 
cry  out  for  remedial  help.  Intemperance,  com- 
pulsory child-labor,  extreme  poverty,  bad  sanitary 
conditions,  inharmonious  relations  between  labor 
and  capital,  corners  on  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
greedy  monopolies,  and  many  other  forms  of 
social  evils  must  be  removed  before  society  can  be 
perfect,  harmonious,  and  happy.  It  will  not  do 
for  the  fortunate  members  of  society  to-day  to 
exclaim,  in  the  language  of  that  first  godless  polit- 
ical economist,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper.-^"  It 
is  not  only  the  duty,  but  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the 
well-to-do  and  refined  that  no  class  should  grow 
up  wretched.  Dickens  well  states  this  community 
of  interest  when  he  describes  the  miserable  London 
quarters  of  one  of  his  characters:  "There  is  not  an 
atom  of  his  slime,  not  a  cubic  inch  of  any  pestilential 
gas  in  which  he  lives,  not  one  obscenity  or  degra- 
dation about  him,  not  an  ignorance  or  a  wicked- 
ness, not  a  brutality  of  his  committing  but  shall 
work  its  retribution  through  every  order  of  society 
up  to  the  proudest  of  the  proud,  and  to  the  highest 
of  the  high." 

Christ  came  to  give  abundant  life.  As  he 
was  the  life  and  light  of  men  before  his  incarnation, 
so  is  he  still.  Not  as  one  sitting  in  the  heavens, 
but  as  "the  power  that  makes  for  righteousness" 
in  this  world.  It  is  for  you  to  teach  this  idea  to 
the  solidarity  of  the  race,  until  man,  not  only 
through  charity  for  the  unfortunate,  but  through 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  will  seek  to  remove 


226  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

the  evils  under  which  society  groans.  The  Chris- 
tian people  must  not  get  anxious  to  emigrate  to 
heaven,  but  they  must  seek  to  bring  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  down  to  earth,  and  fill  society  with  its 
righteousness,  joj%  and  peace. 

As  each  member  of  the  body  is  a  part  of  the 
whole  body,  or  as  each  person  is  a  part  of  the  whole 
family,  let  each  member  be  as  perfect  as  possible, 
that  he  may  add  to  the  perfection  of  the  whole 
organism.  This  is  the  true  theory  of  Christian 
culture.  Be  as  perfect  as  you  can  become,  but 
hold  every  power  as  a  trust  for  the  good  of  your 
fellowmen.  Get  all  the  knowledge  and  wisdom 
possible,  but  hold  it  for  the  good  of  the  common 
brotherhood.  Get  all  the  mental  and  moral  wealth 
you  can  acquire,  but  regard  it  as  a  sacred  trust  for 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

2.  The  law  of  love  must  be  carried  into  all 
the  relations  of  life.  Its  demands  are  very  prac- 
tical, "Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so 
fulfil  the  law  of  Christ."  Man  must  not  be  a 
stagnant  pool  with  all  the  streams  flowing  inward ; 
but  he  must  be  a  living  fountain,  out  of  which 
issue  blessings  to  others.  He  must  not  be  a 
Sahara  desert,  making  no  response  to  the  sunshine 
and  the  rainfall,  but  he  must  be  a  fertile  field  that 
reciprocates  the  blessings  of  heaven  by  an  abun- 
dant harvest. 

The  law  of  love,  and  doing  to  others  as  we 
would  have  them  do  to  us,  must  be  carried  into 
our  theories  of  political  and  social  economy,  and 
these  sciences  must  be  revised  on  the  basis  of 
Christian  ethics.  The  labor  and  the  laborer  will 
cease  to  be  regarded  as  commodities,  in  the  sense 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        227 

in  which  material  things  are  commodities;  and  co- 
operation will  take  the  place  of  competition  in 
many  cases;  and  love  will  help  to  regulate  the 
relation  of  work  and  wages. 

3.  The  kingdom  of  God  has  a  message  to  men 
of  wealth.  It  does  not  join  in  the  communistic  cry 
against  riches;  but  it  touches  each  man  to  improve 
the  talents  given  him  of  every  kind.  The  possess- 
ion of  any  power  implies  the  right  to  use  it.  The 
man  who  by  industry,  economy,  and  thrift,  has 
accumulated  wealth,  may  do  more  for  humanity 
with  it  than  by  any  other  means.  It  will  all  de- 
pend upon  the  use  he  makes  of  his  riches.  A 
reservoir  of  water  may  be  a  motive  power  to  move 
the  machinery  and  carry  on  the  industries  of  a 
whole  community;  or  it  may  be  a  Johnstown  flood. 
Great  wealth  is  such  an  accumulated  power.  Its 
good  or  evil  depends  upon  the  use  made  of  it.  The 
Christian  theory  is  that  all  riches  are  a  trust  for 
the  good  of  humanity,  not  a  selfish  possession. 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  who  has  given  millions  of 
dollars  to  found  public  libraries,  says,  "Every  rich 
man  should  administer  his  own  estate  while  living, 
and  distribute  the  chief  part  of  his  wealth  for  the 
pubhc  good  of  his  fellowmen."  Such  men  are 
benefactors   of  the  race. 

If  men  should  not  selfishly  use  their  riches, 
neither  should  they  thoughtlessly  give  them  to 
others,  as  that  tends  to  make  men  dependent, 
and  thus  to  increase  pauperism.  Help  the  fallen 
onto  their  feet;  give  them  a  word  of  sympathy 
and  cheer,  and  thus  encourage  them  to  depend  on 
self,  and  you  will  do  them  more  good  than  if  you 
give  them  a  fortune  and  let  them  live  without 


228  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

work.  The  poor  Indian  is  a  sample  of  what 
pubHc  annuities  will  do.  Private  annuities  are 
equally  pauperizing. 

For  the  rich  to  take  a  kindly  interest  in  the 
poor  man  is  more  than  to  give  money.  It  allays 
the  discontent  of  the  latter  by  letting  him  know 
that  he  is  a  recognized  part  of  the  social  organism, 
if  he  cannot  be  the  head,  the  hands  are  equally 
honorable  if  they  do  their  work  equally  well. 
Social  discontent  will  still  further  be  removed  by 
recognizing  that  all  honest  laborers  are  "co-work- 
ers with  God,"  and  in  toil  they  have  fellowship 
with  him  who  came  not  to  be  saved,  but  as  a 
servant  to  give  his  life  for  many. 

My  subject  suggests  a  thought  about  the 
churches.  No  one  denomination  is  the  kingdom 
of  God.  All  of  the  invisible  churches  united  are 
not  as  extensive  as  this  kingdom.  They  may  be 
called  training-schools  for  the  kingdom.  They  are 
a  part  of  a  common  body;  if  one  suffer,  they  all 
suffer  with  it;  if  one  is  honored,  they  all  rejoice 
together.  Such  an  alliance  between  them  as  will 
secure  practical  co-operation  is  near  at  hand.  An 
interdenominational  alliance  is  the  hope  of  men  of 
the  noblest  soul  in  all  the  churches.  This  is  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  International  treaties  for  the 
spread  of  knowledge  and  the  increase  of  commerce, 
international  laws  for  the  securing  ot  righteousness, 
international  conciliation  for  the  securing  of  peace 
and  good  will,  international  aUiances  for  Christian 
work  among  the  nations  already  exist.  These 
are  providential.  In  God's  light  we  shall  see  light. 
When  Christian  co-operation  exists  between  all 
the  members  of  the  visible  body  of  Christ,  the 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        229 

whole  earth  will  soon  be  covered  by  the  idea  of 
brotherhood,  the  principle  of  sacrificial  love  and  a 
community  of  life.  Then  the  evils  that  afflict 
society — like  a  disease  preying  upon  the  body — 
will  be  eliminated  by  the  very  fullness  of  life. 
Then  the  Church  will  take  full  proof  of  her  divine 
mission  in  the  same  manner  her  Redeemer  did, 
when  he  said:  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted; to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
recovering"  of  sight  to  the  blind;  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised;  to  preach  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord." 

Do  you  ask  if  it  will  pay  to  identify  your  lives 
with  this  divine  movement?  He  that  saveth  his 
life  by  selfish  isolation  from  this  larger  whole, 
shall  lose  it.  But  he  that  loseth  his  life  by 
identity  with  this  completive  organism,  shall  find 
it  again. 

Pay.^  Go  ask  the  students  who  have  spent 
their  lives  for  the  perfecting  of  knowledge;  and 
let  the  knowledge  of  to-day  that  floods  the  earth 
as  the  light  of  the  noonday  sun  be  your  answer. 

Go  ask  the  inventors  who  spent  their  lives  in 
completing  the  works  of  mechanical  genius,  and 
let  the  triumph  of  mind  over  matter  in  this  age  be 
your  answer. 

Go  ask  the  patriots  who  died  for  love  of 
country,  and  let  the  glorious  civil  institutions  of 
this  age  be  your  answer. 

Go  ask  the  martyrs  and  liberators  of  earth 
if  it  pays  to  die  for  an  idea,  and  let  the  happy  voices 
of  the  millions  of  the  free  be  your  answer. 


230  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

Go  ask  the  missionaries  of  the  cross  if  it  pays 
to  die  for  love  of  man;  and  let  the  voice  of  the 
redeemed  host,  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  be 
your  answer. 

Class  of  Union  Biblical  Seminary,  1891 :  It  is 
your  privilege  to  make  your  creed  fertilize  the 
world,  and  your  lives  furnish  meat  and  drink  for 
mankind.  It  is  your  privilege  to  cause  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  solitary  places  to  be  glad,  and  the 
desert  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  It  is 
your  privilege  to  hasten  universal  fraternity, 
charity,  and  social  unity,  as  the  new  Jerusalem, 
descending  out  of  heaven  to  dwell  among  men, 
lighting  up  the  whole  earth  with  its  glory,  the 
nations  walking  in  the  light  of  it  as  they  hasten 
through  its  open  gates,  to  heal  their  ills  by  the 
leaves  of  its  trees,  and  quench  their  immortal 
thirst  by  its  flowing  fountains,  as  they  look  up 
to  God  the  Father,  with  gratitude,  exclaiming, 
* 'Thine  is  the  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the 
glory  forever.     Amen." 


A  SHORT  ADDRESS  ON  THE  AMERICAN 
NATION. 

Ruskin  once  exclaimed,  "What  a  thought  was 
that  when  God  thought  a  tree."  It  was  a  greater 
thought  when  God  thought  a  continent.  It  was  a 
still  grander  thought  when  he  thought  a  Chris- 
tian nation  with  all  its  wealth  of  thought, 
feeling,  and  action.  A  nation  is  as  surely  the 
realization  of  a  divine  thought  and  purpose  as  is 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        231 

an  individual.  In  the  history  of  Israel,  of  Greece, 
of  Rome,  the  divine  plan  is  apparent.  The  pro- 
gram of  the  divine  plan  for  America  is  at  least 
partially  revealed.  It  is  for  the  people  this  day  to 
read  this  program,  and  dedicate  themselves  to 
its  realization. 

Confessedly,  there  are  great  difficulties  in 
grasping  this  broad  American  life,  as  it  is  formative 
and  not  fixed;  it  has  taken  no  final  shape.  The 
European  traveler  who  thinks  he  can  do  America 
in  "six  weeks,"  gauge  its  size  and  announce  its 
final  destiny,  is  not  the  man  of  historic  authority. 
He  has  seen  only  some  of  the  physical  features  of 
the  land.  He  has  not  even  had  time  to  locate  its 
pulse,  or  feel  its  throb. 

This  baffling  vastness  and  elusive  changeful- 
ness  is  only  the  expression  of  the  manifold  con- 
tradictory forces  at  work.  The  Mayflower  that 
brought  the  Pilgrims  to  the  shores  of  New  England, 
afterward  brought  slaves  to  Virginia;  but  this 
only  exemplifies  the  rapid  co-mingling  of  all  sorts 
of  men  and  nations  on  our  shores,  out  of  which, 
by  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  there  is 
to  come  the  last,  best  plan  of  God  for  man. 

It  has  been  very  happily  said  that  America 
was  God's  great  charity  to  the  human  race.  He 
gave  it  to  the  suffering  millions  of  older  countries. 
As  first  settled,  it  has  ever  continued  to  be  settled 
by  the  poor. 

The  birth-throe  of  this  nation  was  the  effort 
to  make  a  home  where  the  humbler  classes  might 
give  to  God  a  type  of  man  grander  and  nobler  than 
that  had  ever  been  its  birth-motive,  to  create  on 


232  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

a  new  continent,  amidst  unimpeded  areas,  a  race 
better  in  opportunities,  better  in  results,  tenderer, 
truer,  and  wider  in  sympathies,  loftier  in  spirit — 
a  race  showing  at  length  God's  ideal  of  man  or- 
ganized into  a  nation. 

To  do  this,  the  best  blood  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  has  been  poured  into  the  American  veins. 
In  the  last  fifty  years,  over  20,000,000  foreigners, 
mostly  young,  vigorous,  thrifty,  determined  in 
purpose,  positive  in  ideas,  great  souled,  looking 
forward  to  a  brave  future  and  resolved  on  it,  have 
gone  into  the  rich  life  of  America. 

For  want  of  such  fresh  blood,  the  old  nations 
of  Assyria,  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  perished. 
Our  later  civilizations  have  been  better  fed.  Five 
times  has  England  been  soaked  and  saturated 
with  foreign  inundations.  Again  and  again  had 
the  original  Kelts  of  France  been  recruited  and 
vitalized  by  such  enriching  floods.  England's 
roots  have  gone  down  into  Australia,  India,  Africa, 
America;  but  the  whole  world  volunteers  to  bring 
its  richest  treasures  to  us,  for  the  strengthening, 
for  the  enriching  and  perfecting  of  our  national 
life. 

Europe  is  broken  into  fragments.  Differences 
of  language,  faith,  political  organization,  rigid  and 
well  nigh  invincible  alienations  separate  the  people. 
Solid  walls  of  bayonets  divide  its  life;  but  our 
vast  national  life  is  bound  together,  as  in  a  divine 
union,  by  common  origin,  language,  political 
institutions,  culture,  hopes,  and  religion. 

A  great  and  eager  mutual  sympathy  runs 
through  the  whole  body.     The  telegraph  is  swift; 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        233 

the  telephone  is  instant,  but  that  spirit  of  sym- 
pathy, quicker  than  hght,  is  forever  present  through 
every  part;  a  land  which  cannot  perish,  a  life 
which  cannot  die.  The  thought  of  the  old  world 
is  also  our  heritage.  Take  the  physical  sciences 
alone,  physics,  chemistry,  geology,  astronomy, 
then  prove  all  were  born  since  our  history  began. 
It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  well  nigh  the  whole 
mass  of  this  helpful  modern  knowledge  had  sym- 
pathetic birth  with  our  nation — both  of  them 
children  of  liberty  returned  to  earth. 

The  Reformation  of  religion  was  effected  since 
our  birth,  that  America  might  have  the  purest 
form  of  Christianity  unfettered  by  superstitious 
traditions. 

To  these  advantages  add  our  system  of  school 
from  primary  to  the  university,  our  national  dis- 
cipline by  experience,  and  all  our  material  riches 
and  environments,  and  see  how  fully  the  means 
are  given  to  America  to  bring  forth  the  queenliest 
womanhood,  and  the  kingliest  manhood  the  earth 
has  ever  known,  and  by  means  of  this  divine 
humanity  to  solve  all  the  problems  that  now^  baffle 
and  vex  the  world. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  COLLEGE 

College  Finances 

In  the  beginning,  the  writer  asks  that  the 
question  may  be  considered  in  the  abstract;  that 
is,  apart  from  any  particular  college  of  men.     And 


234  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

further,  that  he  may  take  for  granted,  as  true,  the 
following  propositions: 

1.  That  Christian  colleges  are  of  God — a 
part  of  his  plan. 

2.  That  God  owns  all  wealth. 

3.  That  when  God's  conditions  of  usefulness 
and  success  are  met,  he  will  send  the  money  to 
equip  and  support  the  colleges.  This  will  reduce 
the  discussion  to  two  topics: 

I.     Wise  measures,  or  plans. 

While  a  plan  of  college  finances  can  be  sepa- 
rated in  thought  from  the  other  plans  of  the  col- 
lege, the  plans  all  combine  in  reality  to  secure  the 
common  success  or  failure  of  the  college.  In  most 
cases,  to  try  to  remove  college  debts  without  tak- 
ing into  account  the  general  plans  and  the  men  of 
the  college,  is  like  doctoring  a  mere  symptom  on 
the  surface  of  the  body,  when  the  disease  is  organic 
and  chronic,  demanding  constitutional  treatment. 
The  essential  plans  of  the  college,  as  well  as  the 
men  associated  with  it,  must  be  in  harmony  with 
the  conditions  of  success,  or  it  is  useless  to  worry 
about  the  finances. 

Having  these  convictions,  the  writer  chooses 
to  suggest  what  seems  to  him  to  be  some  of  the 
genera]  conditions  of  success  in  our  college  work: 

1.  The  location  selected  for  the  college 
should  be  such  as  will  contribute  to  its  success,  by 
patronage,  by  physical  and  moral  healthfulness, 
and  in  other  ways.  After  proper  experiment,  if 
it  be  found  that  these  elements  of  success  are 
wanting  in  the  locality  where  the  college  has  been 
established,  it  may  be  best  to  remove  it  to  a  more 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        235 

favorable  place.  Let  the  question  of  removal  and 
location  be  determined  on  the  principle  of  the 
greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 

2.  If  the  college  is  denominational,  and  looks 
wholly  to  a  sect  for  its  financial  support,  then  its 
measures  and  its  men  must  be  in  complete  har- 
mony with  the  spirit  of  that  denomination.  To 
violate  this  principle  is  to  alienate  the  sympathy 
and  to  lose  the  support  and  patronage  of  the 
denomination.  If,  however,  the  college  seek  large 
financial  help  and  patronage  outside  of  the  de- 
nomination to  which  it  belongs,  it  may,  and  often 
must  vary  its  plans  and  select  its  men  to  meet  this 
outside  aid  and  patronage.  The  college  must  pre- 
serve the  good  will  and  favorable  opinion  of  its 
patrons. 

3.  The  business  policy  of  the  college  must  be 
such  as  will  meet  the  approval  of  business  men;  in 
other  words,  it  must  be  in  harmony  with  the  natural 
conditions  of  financial  success,  so  far  as  these 
conditions  are  known.  Providence  will  no  more 
protect  a  college  from  bankruptcy  when  it  vio- 
lates essential  business  principles,  than  he  will 
protect  a  private  person  from  such  an  effect  follow- 
ing a  like  cause.  It  is  possible  for  a  college  to  be 
infatuated  by  a  blind  presumption  that  God  will 
help  it;  or  to  be  misled  by  a  vain  ambition  to  equal 
or  to  excel  a  more  prosperous  competitor,  and 
therefore  make  debts  beyond  all  wise  prudence. 
The  folly  of  such  a  course  would  be  seen  and  con- 
demned by  everybody,  if  a  private  person  should 
pursue  the  same  policy. 

For  several  years,  to  avoid  increase  of  debt, 
the  men  in  Oberlin  College  did  hard  work  on  very 


236  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

low  salaries;  and  instead  of  this  policy  driving 
away  her  best  men,  (as  it  is  thought  such  a  policy 
would  do,)  it  secured  and  retained  such  moral  and 
intellectual  giants  as  Charles  G.  Finney  and  his 
colleagues.  When  the  nature  of  the  case  demands 
it,  resort  must  be  had  to  such  extreme  measures  to 
reduce  the  debt,  or  at  least  to  prevent  its  increase, 
and  at  the  same  time,  to  show  to  the  patrons  that 
the  men  in  the  college  are  willing  to  make  sacrifices 
along  with  others  for  the  common  good. 

Many  other  measures  are  suggested,  but  I 
care  now  to  emphasize  only  the  three  named. 
But,  however  wise  the  plans,  they  will  not  work 
themselves.     This  suggests  the  second  topic: 

II.     Able  men. 

1.  Able  agents  must  he  secured.  It  is  not 
enough  that  the  agent  be  an  honest  man,  or  a  good 
bookkeeper,  or  one  who  can  manage  the  college 
finances  by  a  continual  increase  of  the  debt  with- 
out any  increase  of  the  assets.  If  money  is  to  be 
solicited,  then  the  agent  employed  to  do  this  must 
have  the  ability  to  secure  money,  or  he  is  a  failure. 

Sometimes  an  agent  is  selected  because  it  i^ 
said  that  he  has  managed  his  own  finances  success- 
fully, when  a  careful  examination  would  prove  that 
his  "wise  management"  consists  only  in  excessive 
stinginess — never  giving  anything  away.  The  pri- 
vate policy  of  such  an  agent  is  damaging  to  the 
cause  he  represents,  discouraging  the  benevolence 
of  other  men.  On  the  other  hand,  another  man  is 
thought  to  be  not  fit  for  an  agent  because  he  has  no 
private  fortune  to  attest  his  financial  skill.  But  it 
is  evident  that  this  latter  man  may  be  the  better 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        237 

financier.  The  best  college  agent  we  have  ever 
found,  the  one  who  has  secured  the  most  money, 
has  no  private  fortune  "to  attest  his  financial  skill." 
This  superficial  method  of  selecting  agents  puts  a 
premium  on  stinginess  and  a  stigma  on  benevo- 
lence. Failures  of  agents  and  alienations  of  pat- 
rons are  partly  due  to  this  method  of  judging  and 
selecting  men.  Let  the  agents  of  ability  be  se- 
lected, who  have  the  wisdom  to  reap  the  harvest  of 
this  year,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  prudent  plans 
and  right  example  to  sow  the  seed  for  a  more 
abundent  harvest  next  year. 

2.  The  men  who  teach  ought  to  be  more 
than  teachers;  they  must  be  that.  The  number 
of  educated  persons  desiring  to  teach,  makes  it 
impolitic  to  retain  any  one,  who,  through  infirmity 
or  incapacity,  fails  to  give  satisfaction  as  a  teacher. 
He  ought  also  to  exert  influence  through  other 
channels,  to  aid  the  finances  of  his  college.  Some 
of  the  personal-influence  methods  used  by  teachers 
in  normal  school  could  be  wisely  used  for  the 
benefit  of  colleges.  If  prejudice  could  be  laid 
aside  long  enough  to  thoroughly  study  the  causes 
of  success  in  the  normal  schools,  and  then  wisely 
use  such  of  these  elements  of  success  as  are  adapted 
to  the  college,  surely  great  good  would  result, 

3.  Last,  and  greatest  of  all,  we  must  learn 
from  the  history  of  college  work  to  place  a  higher 
estimate  upon  the  college  president  as  a  factor 
of  financial  success.  It  is  seen  everywhere  that 
the  successful  college  president  is  more  than  a 
teacher.  He  is  more  than  a  good  man  of  approved 
scholorship — he  is  a  leader  among  men.  His 
fertile  brain  originates  the  plans,  and  his  tireless 


238  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

energy  executes  the  same.  His  humanity  is  broad 
enough  to  touch  and  warm  all  his  followers;  and 
his  heart  is  large  enough  to  carry  the  faith  and 
courage  and  enthusiasm  necessary  to  infect  all  of 
his  patrons.  What  the  general  is  to  his  army, 
what  the  leader  is  to  his  party,  he  is  to  his  college. 
No  general  every  carried  on  a  successful  campaign 
by  correspondence.  No  leader  ever  led  his  party 
to  victory  by  newspaper  articles. 

Let  our  college  presidents  be  clothed  with  the 
power  and  responsibility  of  leadership.  Let  them 
be  sent  out  among  the  people  to  arouse  them  and 
to  organize  the  force.  Then,  if  they  be  true  leaders 
of  men,  the  people  will  follow  them,  and  they  will 
have  faith  in  the  college  because  they  have  faith  in 
the  leader,  and  they  will  love  the  college  because 
they  love  the  leader. 

Men  cannot  be  organized  for  a  common 
effort  without  a  recognized  leader,  and  they  will 
not  recognize  a  leader  if  they  know  nothing  about 
him.  They  must  feel  the  power  and  recognize  the 
ability  of  the  man  before  they  will  follow  him  with 
any  degree  of  enthusiasm. 

Let  our  college  board  of  trustees  look  to  such 
able  leaders  as  the  chief  means  of  solving  the 
problem  of  college  finances. 


AN  EARLY  SERMON 

[  Preached  near  the  beginning  of  his  ministry] 

Text — "Ought   not   Christ   to   have   suffered 
these  things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory.?"  (Luke 

24:26.) 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        239 

In  this  language,  the  Savior  more  than  inti- 
mates the  necessity  of  his  sufferings.  The  apostle 
also  teaches  that  it  "became"  God  "to  make  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings." 

The  Savior  said  to  Nicodemus,  "As  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up."  And  again, 
"Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved  [or  be- 
came] Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day ;  and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
should  be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations, 
beginning  at  Jerusalem." 

I.     Let  us  inquire  first,  Why  was  it  necessary 
that  Christ  should  suffer  .^^ 

We  will  all  say  that  this  necessity  did  not 
arise  from  his  own  sinfulness,  for  he  was  "holy  and 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners."  We  cannot 
believe  that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  necessary 
in  that  absolute  sense  in  which  we  cannot  conceive 
of  a  thing  being  otherwise  than  it  is,  that  is,  we  do 
not  believe  that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  the 
necessary  and  unchangeable  effect  of  a  given  cause; 
but  those  sufferings  were  necessary  in  order  to 
secure  a  certain  end,  or  to  accomplish  a  certain 
design.  They  were  necessary  as  a  cause  to  produce 
a  certain  effect,  or,  in  other  words,  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  were  necessary  to  secure  the  salvation  of 
man. 

1.  It  was  necessary  to  satisfy  the  justice  of 
God.  Man  owes  entire  obedience  to  the  law  or 
will  of  God  at  all  times;  but  he  has  not  rendered 
this  obedience,  hence  his  guilt,  or  debt  to  God,  for 
sin  is  debt. 


240  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

The  debt  cannot  be  paid  by  beginning  to 
serve  God  anew,  by  present  and  future  obedience. 
Satisfaction  is  demanded  for  the  debt  we  owe  for 
past  disobedience;  but  man  has  not  the  means 
to  satisfy  the  demand.  Could  not  God,  moved  by 
love  and  compassion,  forgive  the  debt?  No,  it 
would  be  setting  such  an  example,  establishing 
such  a  precedent  in  God's  moral  government  as 
would  show  to  his  subject  his  disregard  for  sin  and 
his  willingness  to  exercise  his  prerogative  in  pardon- 
ing the  guilty,  at  the  expense  of  justice.  "It  would 
contradict  divine  justice  itself,  if  the  creature 
could  defraud  the  Creator  of  that  which  is  his  due, 
without  rendering  satisfaction  for  the  robbery." 
Hence,  if  God  would  show  his  hatred  of  sin  and  his 
love  of  justice,  he  must  demand,  and  receive  the 
satisfaction   due   him. 

There  are  two  ways  by  which  this  demand 
may  be  satisfied:  First,  by  the  punishment  of  the 
transgressor.  "But  this,  of  course,  would  forever 
prohibit  his  salvation  from  sin  and  his  eternal  hap- 
piness, because  the  punishment  required  is  eternal, 
in  order  to  offset  the  infinite  demerit  of  robbing 
God  of  his  honor.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  man 
cannot  be  his  own  atoner,  and  render  satisfaction 
for  his  own  sin.  A  sinner  cannot  justify  a  sinner, 
any  more  than  a  criminal  can  pardon  his  own  crime. 
The  second,  and  only  way  by  which  the  demands 
of  justice  can  be  satisfied,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
man's  happiness  secured,  is  by  substituted  or 
vicarious  suffering — some  other  agent  must  suffer 
as  man's  substitute.  But  the  efficacy  of  this  sub- 
stituted suffering  depends  upon  the  nature  and 
character  of  the  being  who  renders  it.     It  would 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        241 

not  be  lawful  to  defraud  justice  by  giving  a  less 
for  a  more  valuable  satisfaction.  If  a  true  vica- 
rious satisfaction  is  made,  something  must  be 
offered  to  justice  for  the  sins  of  man  that  is  greater 
than  the  created  and  finite,  something  "that  is 
greater  than  everything  else  that  is  not  God,"  for 
the  claims  of  justice  upon  every  created  being  are 
as  great  as  it  can  satisfy;  hence  no  created  be- 
ing can  render  a  vicarious  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  another.  Therefore,  if  one  be  offered  to  suffer 
as  a  substitute  for  man,  he  must  be  uncreated,  one 
upon  whom  justice  had  no  prior  claims,  that  one 
alone  is  God.  Therefore,  God  alone  can  make 
this  satisfaction.  In  this  case.  Deity  above  can 
satisfy  the  claims  of  Deity ;  but  though  this  is  the 
the  case,  man  must  render  it,  or  it  would  not  be  a 
satisfaction  for  man's  sins.  For  this  reason  the 
required  satisfaction  must  be  rendered  by  a  God 
man.  This  is  why  God,  in  coming  into  the  world, 
"took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,"  but  human 
nature,  that  the  same  party  that  sinned  might 
suffer;  the  Deity,  being  so  associated  with  that 
party  which  suffered  as  to  stamp  those  suffering 
with  sufficient  merits  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world. 

As  Christ  was  pure  and  holy,  justice  had  no 
claims  upon  him  to  suffer;  hence,  those  sufferings 
were  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  others — 
the  human  race. 

2.  God's  veracity  demanded  the  sufferings 
of  Christ.  God  cannot  be  false  in  either  his 
promises  or  threatenings.  He  had  threatened  to 
inflict  sufferings  upon  man  if  he  disobeyed,  and 
man  did  disobey;  therefore,   God,  in  accordance 


242  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

with  the  immutabihty  of  his  nature,  must  inflict 
the  threatened  punishment;  which  punishment  I 
conceive  to  be  greater  than  the  sufferings  man 
endures  in  this  Hfe,  even  eternal  in  their  duration 
and  infinite  in  their  realm.  If  man  escape  from  this 
curse,  a  substitute  must  bear  the  curse  and  suffer  in 
his  stead ;  and  no  other  substitute  would  answer  the 
demands  of  justice  but  the  God  man,  as  we  have 
already  shown.  Therefore,  it  was  necessary  that 
Christ  suffer. 

We  think  these  two  are  the  chief  reasons  why 
the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  necessary  to  pi'ocure 
the  salvation  of  man;  namely,  to  satisfy  the  de- 
'  mands  of  justice,  and  to  maintain  the  veracity  of 
God.  There  are  other  secondary  reasons,  such  as 
the    following : 

(1)  The  promises  of  God  to  Adam,  that 
the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent's 
head;  also  to  Abraham,  "In  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  and  various  other 
promises,  to  fulfill  which  "ought  not  Christ  to 
suffer,  and  enter  into  his  glory?"  (2)  The 
various  sacrifices  of  the  Jews  only  typified,  or 
referred  to  a  greater  or  more  glorious  one  of  infinite 
valor  to  be  made  in  "the  last  days."  They  were 
only  valuable  in  the  eyes  of  God,  and  efficient  for 
the  salvation  of  the  people,  as  the  means  of  directing 
their  minds,  hopes,  and  hearts  to  that  greater 
sacrifice.  In  view  of  which,  ought  that  sacrifice 
to  be  made,  those  sufferings  endured.  (3)  God's 
prophets  had  predicted  and  minutely  described 
the  sufferings  of  Christ.  Read  Isaiah  53:  "Surely 
he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows; 
yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken,  smitten  of  God, 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        243 

and  afflicted.  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, bruised  for  our  iniquity:  the  chastisement 
of  our  peace  was  upon  him:  and  with  his  stripes 
we  are  healed.  .  .He  was  oppressed,  and  he  was 
afflicted,  yet  he  opened  not  his  mouth.  .  .Yet  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him;  he  hath  put  him 
to  grief."  In  consideration  of  these  predictions, 
was  it  necessary  for  Christ  to  suffer  .^^  As  all  the 
ceremonies,  sacrifices,  and  oblations  under  the 
old  covenant  were  designed  to  impress  the  human 
mind  with  the  necessity  of  some  greater  offerings 
being  made  than  present  and  future  obedience,  to 
propitiate  the  wrath  and  to  satisfy  the  demands  of 
the  justice  of  Deity,  ought  not  that  offering  to  be 
made.^     Was  it  not  necessary  .^^ 

"It  is  the  greatest  of  wonders  that  the  very 
same  divine  justice  which  is  armed  with  an  eternal 
law  of  threatening  and  condemnation  towards  the 
transgressor,  should,  in  the  day  and  hour  of  judge- 
ment, not  only  hold  back  the  sword  of  vengeance, 
and  absolve  from  the  punishment  threatened,  but 
should  raise  the  criminal  to  heights  of  glory  and 
happiness.  Who  does  not  wonder  to  see  the  truth- 
fulness of  threatenings  converted  into  the  truth- 
fulness of  promises,  so  that  strict  truth  is  kept  on 
both  sides,  and  in  both  aspects?  These  two  con- 
tradictions are  reconciled  in  the  Lamb  of  God,  the 
infinite  atonement  of  Christ.  Christ  himself  God, 
himself  the  priest,  himself  the  sacrifice — has  made 
satisfaction  to  himself,  for  himself,  of  himself. 
In  Christ  we  behold  not  only  a  reconciled,  but  a 
reconciling  Deity;  an  incarnate  of  God  who,  in  the 
sinner's    place,    and    for   the    sinner's    salvation 


244  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

furnishes  what  his  own  attributes  of  hoKness  and 
justice  require." 

The  author  of  "The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of 
Salvation,"  has  assigned,  also,  another  reason  for 
the  sufferings  of  Christ — that  he  might  win  the  love 
of  man,  by  thus  exhibiting  his  love  and  sympathy 
for  man,  and  perhaps  it  was  this  great  manifestation 
of  God's  love  that  prompted  John  to  say,  "We  love 
him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  It  also  moved  him 
to  say,  "Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us 
from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us 
kings  and  priests,  unto  God  and  his  Father:  To 
him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever, 
Amen."  Certain  it  is,  if  we  cannot  see  the  love 
of  God  for  man,  in  the  gift  of  his  son,  and  his  suffer- 
ings, and  be  constrained  to  reciprocate  the  same, 
we  shall  never  know  that  love,  in  this  world  nor  the 
world  to  come. 

II.     The  nature  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 

All  the  sufferings  that  Christ  endured  were 
necessary.  He  suffered  not  more  nor  no  less  than 
was  necessary  to  complete  the  atonement.  This 
is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Christ  was  guiltless, 
and  God  would  not  inflict  or  suffer  to  be  inflicted 
any  unnecessary  sufferings  upon  an  innocent  being. 
The  sufferings  of  Christ  have  been  divided  into 
three  classes — humiliation,  physical  torture,  and 
mental  distress. 

1.  Humiliation.  He  "made  himself  of  no 
reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a 
servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  man ;  and 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  him- 
self, and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross."     "Ye  know  the  grace  of  our 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        245 

Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though  he  was  rich,  yet 
for  your  sakes  he  became  poor."  "The  foxes  have 
holes,  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests;  but  the  Son 
of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head." 

2.  His  physical  torture.  See  him  in  the  gar- 
den of  Gethsemane,  bowed  to  the  earth,  the  great 
drops  of  blood  bursting  from  every  pore,  and  hear 
his  agonizing  petition.  Follow  him  through  the 
various  scenes  of  the  awful  tragedy,  until  he  hangs 
between  the  darkened  heavens  and  the  trembling 
earth — then  turn  your  mind, — 

3.  To  the  deeper  distress  of  his  mind,  which 
was  the  principal  seat  of  his  wondrous  sufferings. 
Hear  that  more  than  mortal  cry,  "My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me.'^"  God,  in  some 
mysterious  way,  forsook,  or  hid  his  face  from  Christ 
while  the  piercing  arrows  of  wrath,  and  the  fiery 
thunderbolts  of  justice  were  hurled  against  him, 
perforating  his  immortal  soul. 

III.     The  glory  into  which  Christ  entered. 

"The  sufferings  that  Christ  should  endure, 
and  the  glory  that  should  follow,"  the  prophets 
diligently  enquired  about,  and  even  "the  angels 
desired  to  look  into." 

1.  The  glory  of  his  resurrection. 

2.  The  glory  of  his  ascension.  "Leading 
captivity  captive,  and  giving  gifts  unto  the  sons 
of  men." 

3.  The  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  the 
Savior  says  "should  glorify  him." 

4.  The  glorious  exaltation  of  his  humanity 
to  sit  on  the  mediatorial  throne,  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  the  last  link  of  the  mysterious  chain  of 
human  nature  is  forged.     Man  is  united  to  the 


246  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

Deity,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  now 
sways  the  scepter  of  power  and  authority  in 
heaven  and  earth. 

OUTLINE  OF  AN  ADDRESS 

A  Revival  of  Righteousness  In  the  Nation 

I.     Cause  of  our  rapid  financial  growth. 
Following  the  Civil  War,  our  country  had  a  period 
of    great    financial    prosperity.     Clearly    defined 
conditions  caused  this  rapid  increase  in  wealth: 

1 .  Entering  into  our  vast  national  inheritance 
of  fertile  soil  and  virgin  forests,  and  turning  these 
into  money. 

2.  Gaining  possession  of  the  mineral  resources 
of  our  land — the  gold,  silver,  iron,  coal,  copper, 
zinc,  lead,  oil,  and  gas. 

3.  Creating  the  live  stock  and  the  packing- 
house industries. 

4.  Creating  vast  factories  of  steel,  textile, 
leather,  and  food  products. 

5.  The  building  of  great  railways,  with  aid 
of  government  subsidies  of  land,  and  the  more 
recent  electric  roads. 

6.  The  world-wide  foreign  trade  of  our  na- 
tion. 

7.  A  large  body  of  superior  native,  and  the 
largest  body  of  immigrant  wage  earners  known  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  whose  services  have  made 
immense  fortunes  for  employers. 

8.  A  large  number  of  men  of  rare  financial 
ability,  as  well  as  opportunity,  captains  of  industry, 
leaders  in  the  employment  of  labor  and  in  the 
exploiting  of  the  natural  resources  of  our  country. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        247 

9.  The  civil  laws  allowing,  or,  at  least,  not 
preventing  one  man's  owning,  controlling,  and 
using  for  his  own  advantage  all  the  wealth  he  can 
secure. 

These  facts  and  conditions  are  a  sufficient 
explanation  of  our  nation's  unparalleled  growth 
in  material  riches. 

II.  The  abuses  to  which  these  conditions 
have  led. 

A  man's  possessing  great  and  irresponsible 
powers  is  always  tempted  to  be  a  tyrant.  A  man 
haying  great  wealth  and  limited  public  responsi- 
bility is  tempted  to  abuse  his  riches,  and  indulge 
in  the  flaunting  of  costly  clothes,  jewelry,  and 
equipage.  The  purchase  of  honors  and  office  have 
tempted  Americans  to  believe  that  wealth  is  the 
chief  thing;  and  the  whole  land  has  cried:  "Get  rich 
quick.  Get  money  by  honest  means  if  you  can, 
but  get  it  any  way."  This  ideal  of  life  has  led  to 
many  pubhc  scandals: 

1.  Railway  corporations  have  not  been  con- 
tent with  the  large  bonuses  of  land  given  them  by 
the  State,  but  have  watered  their  stock  to  the 
injury  of  the  public;  and  have  further  increased 
their  gains  by  monopohes,  rebates,  and  other 
unjust  discriminations.  Other  corporations  have 
been  found  guilty  of  equal  crimes,  as  in  the  Standard 
Oil  monopoly,  the  New  York  insurance  frauds, 
and  the  Chicago  packing  house  scandal. 

2.  The  cry  of  the  laborer  who  is  oppressed 
in  his  wages,  or  compelled  to  toil  seven  days  each 
week,  the  employment  of  women  in  the  sweat- 
shops, and  the  toil  of  the  children  in  the  mines 


248  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

and  factories,  when  they  ought  to  be  in  school  or 
at  play,  are  notorious  facts. 

3.  The  cocain  and  opium  joints,  and  the 
saloons  and  bar-rooms  are  created  and  sought  to 
stimulate  the  flagging  energies  of  an  overwrought 
people.  Their  twin  sister  is  the  white  slavery  of 
our  great  cities,  by  which  womanhood  is  made  to 
minister  to  the  lust  and  animalism  of  man. 

4.  Politics,  as  the  science  of  government,  is 
worthy  of  the  best  powers  of  the  statesman,  but  it 
has  been  often  corrupted,  both  in  the  purchase  of 
ofhce,  and  in  its  administration  for  the  benefit  of 
the  official,  ruling  for  private  gain  and  for  public 
good.  Out  of  this  condition,  "bosses"  have  come 
into  our  cities,  and  our  States,  and  our  Nation,  as 
corrupt  and  autocratic  as  the  worst  ruler  in  the 
Old  World,  who  have  encouraged  all  forms  of 
vice  and  crime  that  they  might  have  the  aid  of 
criminals  in  their  own  vicious  reign. 

5.  Under  the  influence  of  the  greed  of  gain, 
courts  have  been  slow  and  uncertain  in  the  punish- 
ment of  criminals;  this  has  led  to  an  increase  of 
crime.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  rush  for 
wealth  has  increased  the  nerve-tension,  and  the  lack 
of  self  control  of  multitudes,  and  a  ready  explana- 
tion is  found  for  the  mobs,  lynchings,  and  burnings 
which  are  our  great  shame  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
world,  and  the  humiliation  of  every  good    citizen. 

6.  This  dark  picture  would  not  be  complete 
if  I  did  not  refer  to  the  cancer  of  Mormonism  in 
the  West,  and  the  often  equally  unrighteous  mar- 
riages and  divorces  over  all  parts  of  our  nation. 

III.  A  revival  of  national  righteousness  is  be- 
gun.   It  is  said  that  when  things  have  become  as  bad 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        249 

as  possible,  they  commence  to  grow  better.  Things 
have  begun  to  grow  better.  The  forces  engaged, 
and  the  men  leading  this  revival  are  significant. 

1.  From  the  beginning  of  his  public  life,  with 
as  much  love  of  the  people  as  Lincoln,  and  as  much 
courage  as  Grant,  the  reform  forces  in  city  and 
State,  and  Nation  have  been  inspired  and  led  by 
that  first  of  American  citizens,  Theodore  Roose- 
velt, President  of  the  United  States. 

2.  Distinguished  governors  of  great  States 
have  entered  the  field  to  fight  for  righteousness. 
Such  men  as  Folk,  Hoch,  Hanley,  Stewart  of  Penn- 
sylvania, LaFollette,  and  the  late  Patterson  of 
Ohio,  and  others,  will  be  followed  by  a  larger  num- 
ber of  like  spirits  in  the  future. 

3.  Senators  and  assembly-men  in  State  and 
Nation,  make  a  long  list  enrolled  in  the  cause  of 
rescuing  public  justice  and  honor  from  their  foes. 

4.  These  are  reinforced  by  the  work  and 
triumph  of  mayors,  prosecutors,  and  distinguished 
citizens  who  have  arisen  in  the  cities  to  dethrone 
the  bosses,  and  to  secure  the  rule  of  decency,  as  in 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Minneapolis, 
Cleveland,  Milwaukee,  and  Toledo. 

5.  Add  to  these  persons,  these  excellent 
leaders,  the  noble  work  done  by  the  National 
Reform  Association,  the  churches,  the  reform 
leagues,  associations  for  law  and  order.  The  Anti- 
Saloon  League,  The  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  and  women's  clubs,  and  the  never-to- 
be-forgotten  masses  of  incorruptible  voters  who 
stand  for  the  right,  and  you  have  an  invincible 
army  which,  when  mobilized,  will  sweep  the  enemy 


250  SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 

of  our  fair  land  from  the  field,  and  bring  in  the 
reign  of  righteousness. 

IV.     Proofs  that  the  revival  is  now  advancing. 

1.  The  nation  will  not  produce  less  wealth, 
it  will  not  be  less  prosperous  under  the  reign  of 
justice,  but  prosperity  will  be  more  equally  shared, 
and  a  larger  number  of  persons  will  enter  into  the 
rewards  of  their  labors. 

2.  There  will  not  be  fewer  railways,  nor  less 
money  and  persons  employed  in  great  public  and 
private  enterprises,  but  there  will  be  less  of  watered 
stock  and  more  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

3.  It  is  a  significant  sign  that  during  the  past 
year  there  was  an  increase  of  conscience  money 
returned  to  its  right  owners,  and  less  betrayal  of 
financial  trust.  The  gifts  for  public  welfare  were 
the  greatest  in  the  world's  history.  The  one  gift 
of  Mr.  Rockefeller  of  $32,000,000  for  education 
added  to  a  former  gift  of  the  same  kind  of  $11,000,- 
000,  has  never  been  equaled  by  any  other  man  in 
any  age.  Mr.  Carnegie's  gifts  have  also  been 
princely,  and  the  gifts  of  others  should  all  be 
received  in  that  optimistic  spirit  of  good  will  which 
these  gifts  show,  the  just  efforts  of  men  to  aid  their 
fellowmen. 

4.  The  increasing  efforts  of  lawyers  and 
judges  and  courts  to  bring  to  speedy  and  certain 
justice  the  violations  of  law  in  high,  as  well  as  low 
places,  are  triumphs  of  righteousness,  and  will 
secure  greater  respect  for  law  and  order. 

5.  The  public  press,  both  newspapers  and 
magazines,  as  well  as  books,  have  given  publicity 
to  unrighteous  conditions,  and,  while  this  has 
made  pessimists  of  some,  it  has  put  to  shame  and 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES        251 

banished  many  of  the  enemies  of  society,  as  the 
daylight  scatters  the  prowlers  of  the  night. 

6.  Fairer  wages  and  better  opportunities  are 
now  offered  the  sons  of  toil.  A  recent  trustworthy 
public  statement  says:  "During  the  last  quarter  of 
the  last  year,  about  one  hundred  million  dollars 
were  added  to  the  wages  of  railway  men  in  this 
country.  The  great  manufacturing  industries  dis- 
tributed presents  to  their  workmen  at  the  holidays. 
The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  gave  each  of 
its  seventy  thousand  general  laborers,  unsolicited, 
an  advance  of  ten  cents  a  day,  and  renewed  the 
opportunity  to  men  in  the  employ  of  the  company 
to  buy  stock  in  the  corporation  below  the  market 
price.  Last  year,  twelve  thousand  men  accepted 
this  offer."  Other  companies  are  also  awaking  to 
righteousness,  and  the  movement,  if  not  universal, 
is  at  least,  extensive. 

7 .  Finally ,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  accept- 
ing the  Golden  Rule  and  the  law  of  love  as  its 
social  ideal,  has  commenced  to  flow  together  for 
co-operant  action,  to  make  that  ideal  effective  on 
earth.  A  federation  has  been  formed  of  over 
eighteen  millions  of  church  people  in  America, 
which  will  include  as  many  more  adherents.  This 
providential  movement  must  mean  that  we  are  to 
have  Christian  ideals  at  the  ballot-box,  in  our 
laws,  and  in  our  officials,  throughout  our  land. 


OUTLINES 


OUTLINES   OF  ADDRESSES 

THE  WILL 

[One  of  his  great  addresses,  in  outline  only.] 

L     Difference  in  men.     What  makes  it? 

1.  Heredity.  Illustration:  Indian,  of  same 
family. 

2.  Environment,  climate,  land,  sea;  social,  reli- 
gious. 

3.  Will,  habit;  the  Negro,  the  Englishman. 

II.  What  is  ivill?     Self  activity. 

1.  Power  to  choose,  to  do,  to  achieve,  to  go,  self. 

2.  Mind  a  unit;  modes  of  activity. 

3.  What  will  power  has. 

III.  Freedom  of  proofs. 

1.  Conscience. 

2.  Social  order  and  law. 

3.  Practical — "acts  as  if  free." 

IV.  Proofs  of  free  will. 

"The  freedom  of  man  in  the  act  of  choosing." 

1.  The  moral  convictions  of  every  man — right, 
wrong.     Illustration — murder. 

2.  The  convictions  of  society  law,  and  penalty 
it  implies. 

3.  Practical  convictions  of  freedom — all  act  as  if 
free.     Spencer's    theory. 

V.  Will  power. 

1.  The  will  a  creative  energy. 

2.  If  architects,  etc.,  creators  of  our  own  charac- 
ters. 

3.  Will  has  cleared  away  the  forest,  tunneled  the 
mountains,  turned  the  river  from  its  course,  and 
dotted  the  surface  of  the  earth  with  evidence  of  its 
power. 


25Q  OUTLINES 

4.  Vast  realms  unconquered.  (1)  In  material 
world,  (2)  in  self  conquest,  (3)  in  social  world. 

VI .     The  power  of  will  illustrated  from  history  and  biog- 
raphy. 

1.  Will  power  is  purpose  in  life.  The  battle 
won  is  the  plan.  Illustration:  the  German  and  the 
French.     Success  of  the  journey — plan;  life  the  same. 

2.  Two   thrones — chance,   providence. 

3.  How  early  choose?  Illustration:  Warren 
Hastings. 

4.  How  choose?  Enemies,  friends.  Bias  fol- 
lows, then  your  path  is  God's  plan. 

5.  Vice.     (1)   Habit 

"No  change  in  childhood's  early  day. 
No  storm  that  raged,  no  thought  that  ran 
But  leaves  a  track  upon  the  clay, 
Which  slowly  hardens  into  man." 

(2)  Conquers  the  world. 
"He  who  is  firm  in  will  moulds  the  world  to  him- 
self"— Goethe. 
"Where  there's  a  will,  there's  a  way." 


ADDRESS    ON    CHINA 
Introduction:  Program;  good  wishes;  rest  weary  ones. 

I.  Land. 

1.  Immensity,  size  4,000,000  sq.  miles.  Loca- 
tion, mountains,  rivers,  plains,  wall,  canal,  resources. 

2.  People.  (1)  Whence?  (2)  appearance,  little 
or  large. 

3.  Customs.  (1)  Domestic — marriage,  children, 
boys,  girls,  house;  (2)  economic — bread  and  butter, 
farmers,  sick,  fish,  trade;  (3)  educational — boys  and 
girls;    (4)  political — emperor,  cabinet,  graft. 

II.  New  China. 

1.  Modern  education. 

2.  Opium  trafiic  and  habit.  (1)  Government 
action;  (2)  voluntary  reform  society. 

3.  Railways. 


OUTLINES  257 

4.  Post-office,  telephone,  and  telegraph. 

5.  Army  and  navy. 

6.  Women  awakening.  (1)  Woman's  journal; 
(2)  foot  binding;  (3)  education  of  girls. 

III.     Christian  China — An  Ideal. 

1.  Bible. 

2.  Christian   schools. 

3.  Missionaries  4,000. 

4.  Centenary  conference  Shanghai.  (1)  Review 
— 200,000  communicants,  estimate  of  Milne;  (2)  cam- 
paign planned;  (3)  Chinese  church  union. 

ADDRESS  ON  THE  PHILIPPINES 

I.  Before  Spanish   Conquest. 

1.  Negritos,  Mohammedan 

2.  Malays. 

3.  Chinese  and  Japanese. 

II.  Under  Spanish  Rule. 

1.  Magellan,  1521  (1)  Era  of  explorations; (2)  sub- 
dued the  islands,  Spanish  government;  (3)  Spanish 
priests  or  friars;  (4)  nine-tenths  Roman,  Christian; 
(5)  Rule  of  the  friars. 

2.  Benefits  of  Spanish  rule.  (1)  Religion  better 
than  heathenism;  (2)  government;  (3)  agriculture; 
(4)  manufacture;  (5)  commerce. 

3.  Defects — friars.  (1)  Grasping  good  land; 
(2)  exorbitant  fees  for  weddings,  funerals,  burials,  and 
baptism;  (3)  suppressed  liberty;  (4)  Immorality  of 
friars.  (a)  Gambling,  illustration — cock  fighting; 
(b)  living  with  concubines;  (c)  drunkenness. 

4.  Traits  of  natives.  (1)  Hospitable;  (2)  musi- 
cal, Manila  band,  Mr.  Tynell  and  wife;  (3)  industrious; 
(4)  clean  and  neat,  bathing;  (5)  credulous  children 
(compare  Africans^ ;  (6)  mixed  population — half-breeds, 
Chinese,   Japanese,   Americans. 

III.  Benefits  of  American  Rule. 

1.  Civil   strife   suppressed. 

2.  Complete  liberty. 

3.  Local  self-government. 


258  OUTLINES 

4.  American  schools. 

5.  Protestant  religion.  (1)  Criticism  answered 
— need;  (2)  churches  operating;  (3)  Evangelical  Union; 
(4)  our  Church;  (a)  where?  (b)  missionaries,  illustra- 
tion— reception:  (c)  concerts;  (d)  Baguio  visit. 

IV.     Outlook. 

1.  For  islands.  (1)  Agriculture — products;  (2) 
mining — gold,  copper;  (3)  lumbering;  (4)  manufactur- 
ing, cloth,  hemp,  sugar,  tobacco. 

2.  Most  hopeful  people  of  the  Malays;  duty  to 
them.     I  should  like  to  go  there. 


ADDRESS  ON  JAPAN 

I.  Land. 

1.  Location  and  climate. 

2.  Size,  160,000  square  miles;  compare  with 
California  and  Texas. 

3.  Surface.  (1)  Mountains,  plains,  rivers;  (2) 
fertile  soil,  little  farms,  three-fourth  acre;  (3)  products 
— rice,  wheat,  millet,  beans   vegetables. 

4.  Beauty— flowers,  mountains,  lakes,  inland 
sea.     Beautiful  vs.  majestic,  Portland  Heights. 

II.  Old  Japan. 

1.  People — origin;  Mongols,  Chinese,  Koreans, 
Malays;  50,000,000;  composite  versatility. 

2.  Customs:  (1)  Domestic — marriage,  house, 
children;  (2)  economic — food,  clothing,  shelter,  agri- 
culture, fishing,  mining  and  lumbering,  war. 

3.  Education.     Common    people   not   educated. 

4.  Religions:  (1)  Shinto,  origin,  nature  worship; 
(2)  Buddhism — foreign;  (3)  Confucianism — foreign. 

5.  Political — change  impending  when  Perry  came 
1853.  (1)  Emperor;  (2)  Shogun;  (3)  Daimios;  (4) 
Samurai. 

TIL      New  Japan — Transformation. 

1.  Constitution  government. 

2.  Laws. 


OUTLINES  259 

3.  Feudalism  abolished. 

4.  Modtrn  education. 

5.  Modern  improvements:  (1)  Railways  and 
street  cars;  (2)  post  office,  telephone,  and  telegraph; 
(3)  system  of  banking;  (4)  manufacturers:  \5)  army 
and  navy. 

IV.     Christian  Japan  Forces. 

1.  Christian  education,  (1)  Sendal,  (2)  Sayami, 
(3)  Doshisha  and  others. 

2.  Printing-press,  Bibles,  hymn  books,  other 
literature. 

3.  Missionaries. 

4.  Christian    union    in    Japan — Methodists, 
Presbyterians,  and  Reformed. 

5.  Local  control. 


NOTES  ON  FOURTH  OF  JULY  SERMON,  1886 

Text — "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven, 
which  a  woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal, 
till  the  whole  was  leavened."     (Matthew  13:33.) 

1      Providence  reserved  this  continent  for  later 
.   use. 

2.  Prepared  special  blessings  for  the  race  then. 
Illustration:  Daniel's  vision. 

3.  Not  speak  of  dangers  today. 

4.  The  gospel  leavening  in  our  nation.  (1)  Our 
nation  was  esj:ablished  by  Christian  men  and  women, 
(a)  Puritan,  Huguenot,  etc. ;  (b)  Washington  _  and 
others.     (2)     It  was  founded  on  Christian  principles, 

(a)  Liberty,  a  Christian  idea-  (b)  equality  before  the 
law,  (c)  fraternity  among  men-"sons."  (3)  Its  in- 
stitutions   are    Christian,     (a)    Popular   government; 

(b)  popular  education;  (c)  benevolent  institutions 
(Wind,  insane,  etc.);  (d)  Christian  Sabbath;  (e)  Chris- 
tian religion  and  morality,  so  far  as  any  is  recognized. 
Illustration:  Fast  days,  thanksgiving,  etc.  chaplains, 
oaths.    (4)    Some  things  not  Christian,     (a)  Slavery; 


260  OUTLINES 

(b)  Mormonism;  (c)  communism  and  anarchy; 
(d)  whisky  traffic.  Illustration:  Christian  men  not 
perfect.  Trust  the  Christian  ideal  to  do  much.  A 
Christian  God  permeated  by  Christian  religion. 
Christian  morality. 

5.  To  what  sources  must  we  look  for  such 
results?  (a)  The  Christian  home,  (b)  the  Sunday 
school;  (c)  the  evangelical  work  of  the  church  revivals; 
(d)  private  and  public  influence  of  Christian  men. 

6.  We  trust  for  this  result;  (a)  God's  providence, 
(b)  Bible;  (c)  Holy  Spirit. 

7.  These  must  transform  this  mixed  mass  of 
humanity. 


OUTLINE  OF  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  LEANDER 
CLARK  COLLEGE,  TOLEDO,  IOWA,  IN  1907. 

The  Religion  of  an  Ideal  Youth. 

Memory  comes  back  like  a  flood,  as  I  stand  here  to-day 
and  search  for  the  departed  faces,  or  recognize  those  that 
still  remain  mingled  with  a  majority  of  new  ones. 

I  wish  to  first  express  my  profound  joy  and  gratitude 
for  the  privileges  of  the  hour,  and  for  the  courtesy  of  your 
pref^ident  in  inviting  me  to  share  this  hour  with  you. 

My  message  is  the  most  important  one  I  ever  brought 
to  you.     Incident. 

Theme — ^The  Religion  of  an  Ideal  Youth. 

Text — "How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me?  wist  ye  not  that 
I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?^'     (Luke  2:49.) 

1.  Christ's  humanity  obscured. 

2.  Here  revealed.     (1)  Grew;  (2)  learned  obedi- 
ence, etc.,  made  perfect,  lived  a  human  life  on  earth. 

I.     He  had  a  religious  nature. 

1.  Tarrying  in  temple  reveals  it. 

2.  All    were    so    endowed.     Necessary    part    of 
human  nature,  of  imagination,  memory,  or  social  nature. 

3.  Why  is  one  religious?     Cannot  help  it,  cannot 
destroy  it,  divine  in  us. 


OUTLINES  261 

4.  In  what  does  it  consist?  Spirit  of  God  in  us 
seeking  to  lead.  A  sense  of  God,  immorality,  duty  of 
prayer,  and  dependence  upon  God.  In  heart  of  all 
normal  human  beings,  as  reason,  memory,  or  imagi- 
nation. No  better  language  than  that  of  Paul  in 
which  to  express  it, 
"Feeling  after  God,"  if  happy.     History. 

II.  At  this  time  a  crisis  in  his  religious  nature. 

1.  So  earnestly  inquiring  in  temple,  forgot  to 
return  home,  "My  Father."  Encouragement  to  a  crisis. 

2.  In  what  it  consisted. 

3.  A  natural  crisis  in  life,  (1)  from  twelve  to 
twenty-four  years  of  age;  (2)  Christianity  knew  it;  but 
did  not  keep  it.  Why?  Illustration:  Physical  changes; 
Intellectual  changes. 

4.  Bible  statements,  (1)  remember;  (2)  seek 
first,  etc. 

5.  Proofs  from  your  experience. 

6.  Neglect  here  often  fatal. 

7.  Need  of  special  effort  to  secure  such  a  result. 
Illustration:  Temple  enthusiasm;  Word  of  God;  songs, 
sacrifices,  throngs  of  believers. 

III.  He  became  conscious  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God. 
"My  Father's  business." 

1.  Greatness  of  such  consciousness,  not  cheory, 
but  fact. 

2.  Baptism,  voice  ever  aftei  dominated  him. 
His  Father. 

3.  Greatest  message  to  men,  "Ye  are  sons  of 
God."     Parable,  Prodigal  Son. 

4.  How  realized?  "Because  ye  are  his  sons, 
God  hath  sent  forth  the  Son  of  sons,"  etc.  "The 
Spirit  himself  beareth  witness,"  etc.  Illustration: 
German  family,  Reading,  Pa. 

IV.  He  caught  a  vision  of  his  vocation — "My  Father^ s 
business." 

1.  God's  business  on  earth,  the  business  of  every 
man. 

2.  Jesus  consecrated  himself  to  it.  Scene  at 
Samaria — "Hath    any    man    brought    him    ought    to 


262  OUTLINES 

eat?"  and  the  answer,  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work." 

3.  Every  man's  work  planned  of  God.  "What- 
soever ye  do,"  etc.  God's  partner.  Illustration: 
Preacher,  teacher,  lawyer,  physician,  farmer,  builder, 
house  makers,  etc.,  God's  partners.  All  true  work, 
God's  work. 

V.  He  began  at  once  to  prepare  for  his  life  work. 
Thirty  years,  Bare  field  in  spring,  hardest  daily  life. 

1.  If  there  had  been  a  college  accessible  he  would 
probably  have  sought  it,  but  these  were  for  the  favored 
classes  then.     He  was  a  poor  lad. 

2.  He  pursued  other  means.  (1)  Nature's  teach- 
ing, his  environments,  Nazareth,  vale  and  hill. 
Face  north  on  hill  above  Nazareth,  to  right. 
Tabor  and  Sea  of  Galilee,  on  left,  Mt.  Carmel  and 
Mediterranean  Sea,  behind.  Plain  of  Jezreel,  influence 
on  a  susceptible  soul.  He  learned  from  this  grand 
open  book  of  nature.  Life,  birds,  plants.  (2)  Syna- 
gogue and  Old  Testament. 

3.  Daily  toil. 

4.  Association  of  men.     Prayers  and  obedience. 

5.  Home  life  and  love  of  a  noble  mother.  Illus- 
tration: Jesus  on  the  cross  remembers  his  mother. 
Widow  and  only  son.     Hon.  H.  A.  Wilbon. 

VI.  Started  upon  his  work;  eighteen  silent  years  of 
preparation,  filled  with  Spirit  of  God,  complete  equipment. 

1.  Might  have  gone  forth  in  his  own  purity  and 
strength,  but  did  not. 

2.  All  have  a  measure  of  God's  Spirit,  but  need 
his  fullness.     Illustration:  Well  at  Toledo. 

Clasb  of  1907,  God  sifts  the  nation  each  year  to  gather 
into  the  halls  of  learning  an  elect  body  of  noble  youth.  It 
is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  that  this  greatest  privilege 
of  life  is  yours.  God  is  your  refuge  and  strength,  His 
trt-asures  are  at  your  option. 

"Let  us,  then,  be  up  and  doing, 
W^ith  a  heart  for  any  fate; 
Still   achieving,   still   pursuing 
Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait." 


OUTLINES  263 


A  SERMON  IN  OUTLINE 

Text — "But  we   all,  with  op'.n  face  beholding  as  in  a 
glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into    the   same 
image  from  glory  to  glory."     (II.  Corinthians  3:18}. 
\.     Context. 

2.  Exposition  of  text. 

3.  Theme — We  are  all  God's  Mirrors. 

The  coming  of  Jesus  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  creation; 
henceforth  rhe  life  of  man  is  the  life  of  the  Spirit.  Man  is 
created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus,  in  the  image  of  God,  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  Animal  man  is  trans- 
formed into  a  mirror  of  God. 

I.  Mans  nature  must  he  unveiled  to  the  presence  of  God. 
It  is  possible  to  have  tyes  and  see  not;  ears  and  hear 
not;  hearts,  and  perceive  not.  Animals  have  as  perfect 
external  organs  of  sense  as  men,  but  they  are  not  known  to 
have  seen  the  beauty  of  earth,  or  the  glory  of  the  heavens, 
or  to  h.ave  heard  the  song  of  the  morning  stars,  or  the 
music  of  the  spheres. 

Some  souls  have  a  vision  of  the  unseen,  and  "endure  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible"  "While  we  look  not,  etc." 
This  unveiling  is  accomplished  by  a  process,  illustrated  by 
the  process  of  education.  Illustration:  Child  learning  to 
read,  literacure,  Newton,  the  child  and  the  man. 

1.  By  obedience  to  the  truth  already  known. 
Illustration:  Ruskin  said,  "Every  sin  that  a  man 
commits  hide«  from  his  eyes,  Jesus."  He  that  "willeth 
to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether 
it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  for  myself."  "He 
that  hath  my  commandments,  etc." 

?.  By  purity  of  heart,  the  vision  is  attained. 
"The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God."  God  is  as  near 
us  now,  geographically  speaking,  as  he  ever  will  be; 
vision  needed.     The  psalmist:    "If  I  ascend,  etc." 

3.  By  loving  sympathy  with  God  so  far  as  we 
have  learned  to  know  him.  Old  Testament,  "The  secret 
of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him  and  he  will 
show   them   his   covenant."     New  Testament,    "The 


264  OUTLINES 

secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  love  him,  and  he 

will  show  them  himself." 

Appreciation,  sympathy,  love  are  the  groat  eye- 
openers.  Illustration:  Homer,  Shakespere,  your  enemy. 
The  affections  of  the  heart  have  their  visions  which  the 
light  of  the  mere  intellect  cannot  attain. 

II.  We  all,  with  unveiled  natures,  are  God^s  mirrors. 
^*We  all  with  unveiled  j aces  reflecting.'' 

1.  God's  deliehts  are  with  the  sons  of  men,  and 
he  uses  many  ways  of  approach  to  men.  "The  heavens 
declare  his  glory,  etc."  Nature  has  been  his  favorite 
way  of  approach.  Illustration:  Theophanies.  Finally, 
in  the  God-man  he  lived  a  human  life  on  earth.  God's 
glory,  God's  exultation  tc  men. 

2.  F.very  man,  as  he  approximates  Jesus  Christ 
manifests  God  to  his  fellowmen.  This  is  the  great 
truth  underlying  the  priest's  assumption  to  forgive 
sins.  Illustration:  Chicago  Fair,  fire  at  cold-storage 
building.  Each  Christian  has  the  same  right;  this  is 
Carlyle's  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  things;  also 
Emerson,  "Tell  me  where  lives  the  man  of  all  good- 
ness," etc.  That  is  to  say;  The  normal  and  spiritual 
qualities  of  God  and  men  are  the  same,  only  differ  in 
quantity.  Illustration:  Love,  goodnsss,  meekness, 
justice,  patience,  holiness.  Broken  mirrors.  Abraham. 

III.  By  mirroring  God's  glory,  we  are  more  and  more 
transformed  into  his  image  and  glory.  ''We  all,  with  open 
face,  etc." 

1.  Not  the  merely  hearers,  but  the  doers;  not 
the  merely  receivers;  but  the  dispensers;  not  the  merely 
ministered  unto,  but  the  ministers;  not  the  meiely 
saved,  but  the  saviors  of  others  become  more  and 
more  like  God.  God  works  in  men  to  will  and  to  do 
as  men  work  ouc  their  own  salvation.  His  process  is 
one  of  transformation.  Illustration:  winter  to  summer. 
Man's  transformation  of  the  earth.  Man  makes  his 
environment,  his  mirror,  as  he  is  able — home  life, 
flowers.  Illustrations:  Indians  in  America.  Chris- 
tians in  America.     Pennsylvania  farmer. 


OUTLINES  ^^5 

2.  Each  one  makes  the  outer  to  reflect  the  inner. 
The  parth  is  man's  mirror  by  the  transformations. 
Man  is  God's  mirror.  Illustration:  Man  slowly  trans- 
formed. The  earth — heavens  and  new  earth.  Even 
now,  body  reveals  soul. 

IV.  The  hopefulness  of  the  process  by  which  man 
becomes  God's  mirror.  "As  the  Lord  the  spirit.''  "Beloved 
now  are  we  the  children  of  God,  etc." 

1.  God,  the  Spirit,  is  immanent  in  all  his  work, 
and  especially  in  men.  Pessimism  due  to  forgetting 
the  fact  that  God  has  not  finished  his  work  yet. 

2.  The  Lord  as  Spirit  still  works  in  earth.  Illus- 
tration: Peter,  Paul,  John.  Stormy  sea  made  a  mirror 
of  heaven.     Central  Park,  N.  Y. 

"Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  spirit,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts." 


SERMON  IN  OUTLINE 

Text — "Think  not  that  I  am  come  fo  destroy  the  law, 
or  the  prophets:  I  am  come  not  to  destioy,  but  to  fulfil. 
For  verily  I  say  unto  you.  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all 
be  fulfilled."     (Matthew  5:17,  18). 

In  this  language  Jesus  Christ  sets  forth  his  relation  to 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  bears  testimony  to  the  Old 
Testament. 

Jesus  Christ  lives  in  the  world  to-day.  His  life,  teach- 
ings, power,  authority,  spirit,  and  church,  man  will  not  let 
die.  They  are  the  most  precious  heritage  of  our  race. 
This  heritage  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  truthfulness 
of  the  Gosptls.  Christianity  is  a  fact  before  all  eyes.  Ic 
is  an  effect  of  a  cause  adequate  to  produce  it.  That  cause 
is  Jesus  Christ.  As  a  river  may  be  traced  back  lo  its 
origin,  so  Chrisiianity  may  be  followed  back  to  its  foun- 
tain head  in  Christ.  Taking  the  Gospels  as  a  history  of 
che  life  and  words  of  Christ  which  all  scholarly  men  ad- 
mit, I  propose  to  answer  the  most  prevalent  form^  of  the 
skepticism  of  our  day  by  establishing  an  opposite  view. 


266  OUTLINES 

I.     Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God. 

1.  He  declared  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  man  in 
rhe  sense  in  which  he  is  the  highest  product  and  type 
of  humanity:  The  new  head  and  the  new  beginning  of 
our  race — :the  second  Adam. 

2.  He  also  said  he  was  rhe  Son  of  God.  (1)  In 
conversation  with  the  man  whose  sight  was  restored, 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of 
God?"  He  said,  "Lord  who  i^  he  that  I  may  believe?" 
Jesus  replied,  "Thou  hast  seen  him  and  it  is  he  that 
speaks  with  thee."  (2)  Before  the  high  priest  he 
was  asked,"  Art  thou  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  che 
Blessed?"     He  answered:  "I  am." 

3.  He  allowed  ochers  to  call  him  the  Son  of  God. 
(])  The  disciples  on  the  sea  of  Galilee.  Jesus  walked 
on  the  waves  and  calmed  the  sea;  and  the  disciples 
said,  "Of  a  truth,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  (2) 
Peter's  great  confession  is  to  the  same  effect.  State 
circumstances.  Peter  said,  "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God." 

4.  Not  Son  of  God  in  the  sense  in  which  men  and 
angels  may  be,  but  as  equal  with  God.  This  was  the 
charge  of  blasphemy.  "He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father."  "In  the  name  of  the  Father,  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit." 

5.  This  is  in  harmony  with  all  his  claims.  (1) 
Fulfiller,  founder,  etc.  (2)  Forgive  sins,  give  peace. 
(3)  Rise  from  the  dead,  etc. 

6.  This  is  in  harmony  with  his  sinless  and  holy 
life.  (1)  No  outward  work  or  act,  no  inner  conviction 
of  cause  revealed  sin  in  him.  (2)  This  is  an  exception 
to  all  the  race.  (3)  A  moral  miracle,  which  sustains 
his  claim.     "Which  of  you  convinceth  us  of  him?" 

7.  Inharmony  with  his  works.  Turned  into  wine, 
multiplied  the  loaves  and  fishes,  walked  upon  the 
waves,  opened  eyes  and  ears,  healed  the  sick,  cured 
the  palsied,  cleansed  the  leper,  raised  the  dead.  To 
such  a  one  these  are  every-day  events,  and  to  be 
expected. 

8.  God,  the  Father  testifies  to  the  claim  of  his  Son. 
(1)  At  baptism  (2)  Mount  of  Transfiguration  (3)  By 


OUTLINES  267 

raising  him  from  the  dead,  God  declared  him  to  be  the 
Son  of  God,  with  power  by  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  His  resurrection  is  as  capable  of  proof  as  any 
history,  even  by  the  witnesses  who  saw  him  on  ten 
occasions  after  the  resurrection;  by  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  by  the  origin  and  existence  of  the  church, 
by  the  coming  of  Paul  to  whom  he  appeared,  and  his 
manifestation  in  the  world  today. 

n.     Jesus  Christ  is  the  Jul  filler  of  the  law  and  prophets. 

1.  By  correctly  interpreting  their  meaning 
(1)  Illustration:  "Thou  shalt  not  kill;  but  I  say  unto 
you  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  without  a 
cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgement."  (2) 
Golden  Rule.  (3)  Law  of  love,  "On  Christianity 
hangs  all  the  Law  and  Prophets" — "Love  is  the  fulfill- 
ing of  the  law." 

2.  By  being  the  substance  and  truth,  of  which 
they  were  types  and  figure  ceremonies.  (1)  Illustra- 
tion: Tomb  of  God,  (2)  The  perfect  prophet,  priest, 
and  king,  "The  Son  of  man." 

3.  By  fulfilling  the  vision  and  hopes  of  all  the 
holy  prophets  since  the  world  began.  (1)  The  Hebrew 
prophets.  (2)  All  Gentile  prophets  and  religious, 
Greece,  Rome,  Egypt,  Arabia,  India.  (3)  They  were 
partial,  he  is  the  fullness  of  grace  and  truth.  Paul 
said,  "Whom  ye  ignorantly  worship,"  etc.  Jesus 
said,  "Then  shall  the  Son  of  man,  etc."  Illustrations: 
Oak,  acorn;  seed,  flower;  man,  child;  heaven,  earth. 

III.     Jesus  Christ  is  an  infallible  teacher  of  ethics  and 
religion. 

1.  Eulogies.  (1)  Spake  with  authority.  (2)  "As 
never  man  spake."  (3)  Nicodemus,  "We  know  thou 
art  a  teacher." 

2.  He  claims  to  be  a  teaciier  from  God.  "He 
whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of  God." 
"No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time;  the  only  begotten 
Son,  who  is  in  the  Iwsom  of  the  Father,  he  hath 
declared  him."  "To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this 
cause  came  I  unto  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness 
unto  the  truth."     He  is  the  truth. 


268  OUTLINES 

The  objector  says,  He  confessed  he  did  not  know  all 
things.  There  was  a  mysterions  implying  of  self;  but  he 
knew  all  that  God  sent  him  to  tea'^h,  "The  words  which  ye 
hear  are  not  mine,  but  the  Facher's  which  sent  me."  "For 
he  whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of  God." 
"The  words  that  I  say  unto  you,  I  speak  not  of  myself; 
but  the  Father  abiding  in  me,  doeth  the  works."  Illustra- 
tion: Specialist  in  medicine. 

3.  Christ  taught  all  the  Fither  gave  him  to 
teach.  If  by  the  Father's  will  and  his  own  voluntary 
limitation,  he  did  not  know  this  fact,  and  confesses  it, 
he  thereby  implies  that  he  does  know  what  he  is  sent 
to  teach.  He  says,  "We  speak  that  we  do  know." 
There  were  grave  reasons  why  the  day  of  his  return 
should  not  be  made  known. 

4.  The  unique  nature  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  Son  of 
man,  and  Son  of  God;  the  unique  sinlessness  and  holi- 
ness of  his  character,  and  his  endowment  of  the  Spirit 
without  measure  compells  belief  in  his  infallibility 
as  a  teacher. 

IV.  Jesus  Christ  hears  witness  to  the  Bible  as  the  word 
of  God. 

1.  Came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill.  "It  is 
true  and  right,  and  I  fulfill  it  as  true." 

2.  He  knew  well  the  Old  Testament. 

.3.  He  often  quotes  it.  (1)  In  the  temptation, 
"It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live  by  brtad  alone." 
"It  is  written,  "Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy 
God."  "It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  (2)  At 
Nazareth,  Read  Isaiah,  53.  This  day  is  this  scripture 
fulfilled  in  our  ears."  (3)  After  the  resurrection.  "O 
foolish  men,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe."  "And 
beginning  at  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  etc." 

4.  He  calls  the  Old  Testament  the  word  of  God. 
(1)  "If  he  called  them  gods,  unto  whom  tin  word  of 
God  came,  and  the  scripture  cannot  be  broken;  vsay 
ye  of  him,  whom  the  Father  hath  sanctified,  and  sent 
into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest ;  because  I  said,  I  am 
the  Son  of  God?"  (2)  Charges  scribes  and  Pharisees 
of  making  void  the  word  of  God  by  their  tradition'^. 


OUTLINES  269 

5.     Here  calls  the  Old  Testament   truth,   as  he 

said    of  himself:  "I    am    the   way."    "Sanctify  them 

through  thy  truth,  thy  word  is  truth." 

He  constantly  quotes  tht  Old  Testament  as  true:    He 

ordered  his  life  by  it;  he  claims  to  fulfill  it;  he,  therefore, 

testifies  that  it  is  true,  trustworthy,  and  of  divine  authority. 

The  New  Testament  is  certified  by  him.     He  promises  to 

give  1  he  Holy  Spirit  to  guide  into  all  truth.     "I  have  yet 

many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now. 

Howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide 

ycu  into  all  truth,  etc."     Pentecost  came. 

Objector  asks:  "Is  it  all  true  and  accurate?"  Trans- 
cription, translation,  interpretations  substantially  true. 
Illustrations.  Living  word  and  written  word;  grains  of 
sand, 

V.     Experience  proves.     Experimental  proofs. 

1.  To  the  individual.  "If  any  man  will  do  his 
will,  he  shall  know  of  thedoctrine,  whether  it  beef  God, 
or  whether  I  speak  of  myself."  "Tested,  Jesus  Chrst 
by  his  word  is  the  light  of  the  world;  Jesus  Christ  by 
his  cress  is  the  Saviour  of  the  world;  Jesus  Christ  by 
his  Spirit  is  the  life  of  the  world."  The  one  who 
incarnates  his  word,  cross,  and  spirit  needs  no  other 
evidence  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ;  he  has  the  wit- 
ness in  himself,  and  no  more  need  of  other  witnesses 
than  did  Elijah  while  ascending  to  heaven  in  the 
chariot  of  fire. 

2.  Observation  in  the  world.  (1)  His  effect  on 
mental  power.  Illustration:  World's  Fair,  Chicago. 
(2)  In  His  finished  products.  Illustration:  State  prison 
and  company  of  true  Christians.  (3)  In  the  testimony 
of  the  wise  and  good  of  earth;  For  1900  years,  poets  and 
painters,  philosophers  and  scientists,  philanthropists 
and  reformers,  statesmen  and  rulers  have  recognized 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  master  and  model.  f4)  Its  effects 
on  the  world.  What  is  Christianity  doing  in  this  world? 
Taming  and  clothing  the  savage;  liberating  ^nd  honor- 
ing womanhood;  guarding  and  educating  childhood; 
revering  old  age; building  churches  and  school-houses, 
asylums,  temples  of  justice,  and  happy  homes. 


270  OUTLINES 

As  the  river  of  the  water  of  Hfe,  He  causes  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  soHtary  place  to  be  glad,  and  the  desert  to 
bud  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  he  is  a  fountain  in  a  thirsty 
land,  and  streams  in  the  desert,  he  causes  the  lame  man  to 
leap  as  a  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  to  sing.  He  is 
throwing  up  a  king's  highway  over  which  the  ransomed  of 
the  Lord  are  returning  to  Zion,  with  songs  and  ever-lasting 
joy;  and  sorrow  and  sighing  flee  away. 


OUTLINE  NOTES  OF  AN  ADDRESS 

Faith  an  Element  of  Power. 

L     Composition  of  the  age. 

1.  Materialistic  Age.  Body  and  spirit.  (1)  In 
theory;  (2)  in  practice.  But  man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone. 

2.  Reaction  to  opposite  extreme.  Signs  along 
streets  in  great  cities:  "Astrologer,"  "Trance  me- 
dium," "Mental  healer,"  "Mind  reader,"  "Fortune 
teller."     Doweyism,  and  similar  fads,  symptoms. 

3.  This  want  or  desire  is  the  Church's  oppor- 
tunity. (1)  Wants  move  the  world — hunger  and 
thirst;  (2)  assure  us  of  a  new  day,  a  new  springtime  in 
which  He  is  our  Savior  and  Lord  in  all  realms. 

4.  This  new  age  is  one  of  faith. 

5.  Faith  is  the  greatest  word  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Jesus,  Paul,  John,  walk  and  live  by  faith.  "This 
is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our 
faith." 

6.  Meaning  of  faith,  the  things  believed; 
articles  of  faith.     Contend  earnestly  for  the  faith. 

II.  Our  power  to  perceive  or  know  the  invisible. 
Illustration:  Moses  "by  faith  forsook  Egypt .  .  .  .for  he 
endured,  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible."  Paul  speaks  of 
looking  "not  at  the  things  that  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
that  are  not  seen,  etc."  Jesus  says,  "The  pure  in  heart 
shall  see  God." 

\.  The  opposite  of  sense  perception.  It  is  con- 
fidence.    (1)  Of  the  heart;  (2)  akin  to  love  or  friend- 


OUTLINES  271 

ship.  "Faith  worketh  by  love."  Illustration:  Abra- 
ham, faithful,  friend  of  God.  (3)  Common  in  daily- 
life.  Illustration:  Farmer — plows,  sows,  reaps;  in 
business  world — credit;  in  society — built  on  it. 

2.  Faith  is  a  conquering  power.  (1)  Tends  to 
action,  (a)  All  mental  states  tend  to  action,  (b)  The 
more  fundamental  the  mental  state,  the  stronger  the 
action.     Illustration:    Columbus. 

3.  Faith  creates  enthusiasm  in  its  possessor — 
a  ferment  of  energy.  Illustration :  Palissy  and  enamel, 
every  great  invention,  discovery,  work  of  art,  reform, 
etc.;  the  prophets'  vision;  optimism  of  Jesus. 

III.  Faith  is  a  contagious  element  and  enlists  the 
strength  oj  others. 

1.  Every  mental  state  tends  to  infect  others 
according  to  its  energy.  Illustration:  Luther  and  the 
reformation ;  Wendel  Phillips  and  slavery;  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  and  England;  believe  a  thing  strongly  and 
others  will  have  faith  in  it. 

IV.  Greater  than  all  this,  faith  in  God  or  in  Jesus  Chris^ 
makes  man  a  channel  of  divine  power. 

Paul  said,  "I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which 
strengtheneth  me."  Illustration:  Nile  River.  Hebrew 
roll  of  heroes:  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham,  Isaac, 
Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  Judges.  Great  battles  to  be 
fought,  faith  needed  for  victory.  Illustration:  Asso- 
ciation in  Toledo,  Iowa. 

"Then  let  us  be  up  and  doing  with  a  heart  for  any  fate, 
etc."  Paul  the  hero,  challenges  the  universe,  "What  then 
shall  we  say  to  these  things,  if  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us?" 

V.  How  grow  such  a  robust  faith. 

1.  Pray,  "Lord  increase  our  faith." 

2.  Keep  close  to  men  of  giant  infections. 

3.  Study  the  Word  of  God. 

4.  Read  the  lives  and  works  of  the  faithful. 

5.  Put  to  use  the  faith  you  now  have. 


BX9878.8.IVI6F9 
Lifeof  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00047  2763 


